Mrs. Zwirlein once said, “The tempo will go just as fast as your years in high school will go.” I always pictured how my first day of high school would be. But to my surprise it was nothing like I pictured it.  I walked in on the first day of high school--my stomach filled with butterflies--and it felt like when you have to give a speech.

I was excited and anxious to get to my second hour class just to talk to my friends. But once I came out of that first day of band class, I had a different perspective of what high school would be like. And I may not have realized it at the time, but I had just met a teacher that would change my life.

I have been playing the flute since fifth grade. I joined band so I could have a class with all of my friends. But it’s become way more than that. My freshman year, I went into high school thinking band is an easy A. But then I met Mrs. Zwirlein and my perspective changed.

For the past four years, I’ve been lucky to have Mrs. Z as my band teacher. She is not one of those typical band teachers who tells us to be quiet and play music. She’s funny, energetic, and is dedicated to her work and her students.

I joined marching band my sophomore year. And from that first day of camp until now--if there could be one word to describe it all-- it would be exhilarating. Now in sports, there are coaches or team captains who lead the team and teach them how to work together. Well in marching band, we have our band teachers as our coaches. We like to call Mrs. Z the mom of marching band. She is the one to go to when we’ve lost our drill, need help with our uniforms or need help with the music.

In marching band, we are like one ginormous family (with 100 kids) that has to not only get along, but also work together, learn together, and teach each other.  Without her, we’d never learn our drills, nor would we ever be able to learn all the music (which this year consist of seven different songs). And the same goes for band class. We may be broken up into different sections based upon our instruments, but we are one working system, one noisy band, and one team lead by Mrs. Z. 

She always has that positive, exciting, and happy energy radiating off of her--and whether it's cloudy or sunny, she always makes the day better. She’s the one who has challenged me to push on and to do higher level work.

Mrs. Z taught me that even when the lights and music don’t go on cue, you can still make the performance great! Just like in life, sometimes things go wrong, but in the end, everything works out fine.

At the beginning of every year, she does a band handbook scavenger hunt, and to make it fun, the winning team gets a pizza party. This allows us to have fun and to quickly learn the rules of the class!

Mrs. Z is dedicated to music, her job, and her students. When you walk in the room and feel the positive energy she gives off, it's as if the music notes were jumping right of the page and the instruments were playing themselves. 

I am truly lucky for these past four years I’ve been able to call her my band teacher.

That is why I would like to nominate my band teacher, Stacey Zwirlein, for teacher of the year. I hope one day to inspire others just as much as she has inspired me.