Text-Only Version
(Piano playing)
Ginger Hwalek: "My goal is to share my passion for music with students. I've grown up with music. I knew I was going to be a musician since I was 7 years old. To me, being a teacher is one of the greatest things one can aspire to, and I just love sharing what I know with these kinds."
Announcer: For 25 years, Ginger Hwalek has been sharing her passion for music with her students. That dedication to her profession was recognized earlier this year when she was named the National Teacher of the Year by the Music Teachers National Association, the largest organization of its kind in the country.
Ginger Hwalek: "It was a shock and I cried. For me, it was an affirmation of all the things that I believe in. My basic philosophy is to create balance. I'm always asking myself, 'Am I doing enough of this? Am I balancing it off with something different? Make sure that I do music things, but also balance it off with staying fit or eating well?' I even tell my students, 'Yes, do music, be sure it's part of your life, but also stay fit, stay healthy.' All that, to me, builds the whole person, and I don't think you can have no music and be balanced."
(Piano playing)
Announcer: Kaity Liu, a first-year biochemistry major, has experienced Ginger's passion for teaching the piano for the last three years. It came as no surprise to her to hear about Ginger's award.
Kaity Liu: "My lessons with Ginger are really fun. I really look forward to them. And when I do something right, even slightly, she notices and bounds right on to it and pushes for even more of that type of feeling."
Announcer: Many of Hwalek's students at UMaine don't study the piano. They may be voice students or play another instrument. Her task is to make the instrument fun to play and to help these students make music a part of their life.
Ginger Hwalek: "I want them to love the instrument, and I think they're going to know when they get into their first teaching job or any job, that that piano is going to be in that classroom and it's there. And I've had a lot of them come back to me after having already graduated and say, 'Thank you for what you've given me, I now play in class.' Or, "Ginger, you'll be very proud of me, I can do this now." It's fabulous when the light bulb goes off, and for me, it's all worth it."
