Franklin Square schools showcase music excellence

Music educators in the Franklin Square school district go to work every day with a passion for the magic they and their students create in their classrooms.

The district was recently recognized for its commitment to music education for the second year in a row, earning a Best Communities for Music Education designation from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. The organization recognizes districts that stand out in providing music access and education to their students. Franklin Square is one of 975 districts that were awarded the designation across the U.S.

Christina Mehserle, a vocal music teacher at Polk Street School, was inspired to become a music educator when she was young, and enjoyed music classes in the Farmingdale school district.

She realized she wanted to make music her career, Mehserle recalled, when she attended an All-County Music Festival as a junior at Farmingdale High School. There she worked with the director of Hofstra University’s choral program, David Fryling, and was inspired to be a teacher like him, and make similar connections with students of her own.

“It just turned my whole life around, and I wanted to be that teacher that made such a difference and made students want to love music,” Mehserle said. “You know, there’s so many students that dread going to music class, and once I had that experience, I wanted to be a music teacher, and I wanted my students to love coming to music class no matter what. And I will do anything and everything to do that.”

She is one of many music educators in the district who show up at school every day hoping to instill that love of music in her students, and has done so for the past 15 years in Franklin Square. The evidence is the students who come back to visit their elementary alma mater to discuss their childhood education — something Mehserle cherishes dearly.

“When they come back and they say, ‘Oh my gosh, we miss the concerts and we miss doing fun things in the music room,’” she said, “you know, that’s everything to me. Even when I see students and they’re 20 years [older] and they still remember certain things from 20 years before that, that means everything to me.”

Mehserle described her connection with her students as if they were her own children.

“I really try to make music relevant to them,” she said. “I come up with creative ideas to keep them interested and try to relate to their lives every day, and to music that they enjoy.”

In her classroom, Mehserle said, she creates an environment in which students can feel comfortable being themselves, hanging lights and having dance parties during class to keep them engaged. She watches students grow from kindergarten through sixth grade at Polk Street, having a unique opportunity to get to know them throughout their elementary years.

Kelly Tesar, a vocal music teacher at Washington Street School, has taught in the district for 17 years. She also said her own education was instrumental in inspiring her to pursue a career teaching music.

“My whole family — we all performed growing up, so I’ve always known that music would be part of my life,” Tesar said, “but education was inspired by all of my music teachers.”

Her favorite part of her job, she said, is seeing the joy that music brings her students. Getting to be a part of the happiness they get from singing and making music together in the classroom is what brings her back to work every year.

Even in her first year in the district, Tesar believed she had chosen the right career path.

“Elementary music was better than anything I’d ever done,” she said. Her connections with students are something she said she wouldn’t trade for anything.

“I’ve never felt more authentically myself than when I’m in my classroom in front of the kids, making music with them, singing with them, having them sing with me,” Tesar said. “There’s just no doubt in my mind, because of it, I just feel so at home.”