KENT CITY, Mich. — He started out playing tuba in the fifth grade. Now, Jonathan Schnicke is the Kent City Middle and High School band director. He’s also our next Teacher of the Week, and his band students helped us out with the surprise.
Schnicke said, initially, he was confused.
“For me, walking in the door today it was, it was – I was a little nervous. I sat in the assistant principal’s office, I’m like, am I in the naughty chair?”
After the shock of the surprise wore off, the band director took us back to when he was a student, saying, “I remember back when I was in fifth grade. I remember walking in the band room for instrument fittings and I remember telling my mom, ‘I want to play that one.' She goes, ‘That’s the biggest one.' I’m like, ‘I’m a big kid.'”
He chose the tuba, and while in high school in Belding, his passion for music would grow.
“My band director was my inspiration to go into this. He reached out to me at a very young age and made a connection and made me want to go into teaching,” said Schnicke.
Once he graduated from Cornerstone University, he would go on to take over for that same high school band director.
“Going from that kid that played sousaphone, doing high-step marching, to a guy now that leads kids out on the field doing completely different things than I did in high school and helping getting them set up is pretty awesome,” said Schnicke.
He’s been with Kent City Community Schools the last 10 years.
Kris is now a senior who’s been in Mr. Schnicke’s band class since seventh grade and admits to nominating him for Teacher of the Week.
“I thought that he deserved this. I take him as basically another father and I love him. He’s the best band director that I could have,” said Chris.
Jordan Stuhan is the principal for Kent City Middle and High Schools and said, “It was really exciting for me to find out. He works really hard. I don’t think there’s anybody that spends more time in and around the school.”
“This is a stable environment for them that they can feel safe. They can come in an express themselves through music. For teachers, it’s one of those professions that we don’t do it for the money. We don’t do it for the recognition. It’s for those relationships with the kids,” said Schnicke.
Building those relationships is something many teachers say they appreciate even more now because of the pandemic and virtual learning.
“As we all found out, there’s no replacement for the kids being able to be here with these caring adults every day, and so, for the teachers to receive some recognition for their role in that, I’m just really thankful for WZZM doing that,” said Principal Stuhan.
If you would like to nominate someone for Teacher of the Week, you can text “teacher” to 616-559-1310.
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