Spirit of the Mustang - May 2017

Submitted by andrea.pond on
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Deanne Helquist is my pick for Spirit of the Mustang. In the two years that I have been here I have seen that Deanne arrives at school early each day to prepare for school and to work with students who need extra practice. From the conversations that I have had with her, I can tell that she cares deeply about her students; not just when they are in her class, but even after they are graduated and married.

 

She seems to always have a positive attitude even when confronted with tough situations. She recently told me about an experience with a parent that was very difficult for her. She has had several opportunities to associate with this parent since then and was able to be positive because it was the right thing to do.

 

Deanne is an amazing teacher that is able to take students with little to no knowledge of music, and teach them to read what I consider a foreign language called “sheet music” and play an instrument in time with other students.  A task that is not easy. Her orchestra students are involved in multiple concerts and competitions throughout the school year, and have ranked well at these concerts. Not only does she teach the music to help prepare for the concerts but has to coordinate the transportation of all the instruments including setup and takedown.

 

Deanne teaches part time here at the junior high and part time at Maple Mountain High School. I don’t know how she is able to keep track of what she is doing at both schools, and keep up with grading, organizing concerts, and other performances. I know from experience when I first started teaching that managing two different school schedules, when there are assemblies, meeting and parent teacher conferences, is no easy task.  For these reasons and many others I believe that Deanne Helquist is a great example of the “Spirit of the Mustang.”

 

Attributions
J.T.Collett