John Williams

I spent four years of high school preparing to go to college for music education. I spent five years of college preparing to be a band director. And I spent seven years as a band director feeling that my positive, student-centered approach was not welcome at the schools where I found myself.

By the time I applied at The Music Studio Atlanta, I was looking to leave music education entirely. In fact, when I first interviewed, I told the owner that I wasn't interested in teaching music anymore—I just wanted to answer the phones. She convinced me to give it a shot teaching lessons at TMSA, telling me that I'd probably find they did things a little differently than what I was used to. I'm so glad she did.

Two years since leaving the classroom to teach private lessons here, I haven't looked back. I still answer the phones sometimes, so I got the change of pace I was looking for—but I got it without having to walk away from my passion for teaching music, and I'm glad I didn’t have to say goodbye to that.

My latest role here is to welcome new teachers to The Music Studio, some of them in similar positions to where I was: disillusioned music educators looking for a place where they wouldn’t have to give up their passion. And when I meet them and wonder for a moment what’s made me feel so much more at home here, I’m reminded when I see that our new teacher handbook makes positivity a policy.

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