Oswego High School Band, Jazz, and Orchestra Programs Director Kevin Schoenbach is a top 10 finalist for the Music Educator Grammy!
He is getting his students warmed up for one of the most popular programs at the school. It is the second time that Schoenbach is competing with teachers nationwide for the honor.
The Grammy nominee told ABC7’s Hosea Sanders how making music can change the lives of his students.
“A math teacher or an English teacher, maybe you might have them for a semester, or again at some point, but we see these kids every day for four years. They come in as freshmen who don’t know anything, and they leave as young adults. And the fact that you see them as they grow up along that journey is pretty special,” Schoenbach said. “We want these students to graduate and go off into whatever field they’re doing and enjoy in a different way than just putting the headphones on. We want, taking their families to the symphony. ‘There’s a jazz band in the park; let’s go check that out’… We want them having experiences that are hopefully going to carry on the rest of their lives.”
Schoenbach also talked about the importance of music to his own family.
“I’ve got an almost 8-year-old and a 6-year-old. We’ve always got on Taylor Swift. They’re already talking about what instruments they want to play when they get older,” Schoenbach said.
When asked whether he thought teaching, as opposed to performing, would be his passion, Schoenbach said, “If you were to tell 22-year-old me that this is what I’d be doing and having success on, that I’d be nominated for a Grammy for education and not for playing the trombone, I’d have thought you were crazy, but here we are, and I’m loving it… I get way more satisfaction of my students having success than I do of my own.”
Oswego High School senior Braden Pawlisz plays the bass trombone.
“There’s many days I’ve gone through a whole day at school, and thought, ‘I’m tired. I don’t want to be here.’ But because of Schoenbach, he makes it fun and feels like you’re having a good time,” Pawlisz said. “It’s made me want to pursue music for the rest of my life and hopefully become an educator.”
Senior Gabriel Velazquez also plays the trumpet.
“He introduced me to Miles Davis and spread out my discography to John Coltrane, and it elevated from there,” Velazquez said. “I love this. This is what I come to school for.”
The winner of the music educator award will be announced later this week, so the teacher can fly to Los Angeles for the Grammys on Sunday.
“Everybody had somebody who lit that spark. It could be choir, band, orchestra. The fact that I could be that spark for anybody is amazing,” Schoenbach said.
So, we are hoping that Schoenbach gets that Grammy and brings it back to Oswego High School!
