Inspirational teacher Jack E. Ellis
A Story by Cheryle Kahl
The literacy lesson is visualization. The month is September. As I gaze at my new class
family, I can’t help but bubble with excitement at the possibility and personality
contained in the adolescent bodies before me. Who are they? What are their passions?
What are their stories? How can I help them realize their full potential or at least help
them along their ever-changing journeys? I love my eighth grade works-in-progress, and
realize my role, as teacher, is one of privilege and influence.
Looking back at my thirty-one years of teaching middle school, I know why I am here.
The slide show in my mind is filled not only with people, but manuscripts—covers of
octavos—the red copy of “You’ve Got a Friend,” the SSA arrangement of “Chorale St.
Anthony,” the artist’s rendering of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Accompanying these scores are recurring images of a bearded balding man conducting,
laughing, playing the piano, interacting.
As a piano student, choir was a natural school schedule choice for me. I lived for the
hours I spent each day in Mr. Ellis’s junior high choir class and ensembles. Playing the
piano is a solitary activity, but in choir, I experienced the thrill of harmonization, of
cooperatively creating, of catching the passion that was so evident in my teacher’s
anecdotes and introduction of new pieces. Soon I was not only a choir student, but a
choir accompanist and choral assistant as well.
One day after rehearsal, Mr. Ellis had me come to his office and opened a large glossy
booklet describing a two-week music seminar at one of Michigan’s top music schools.
I’ll never forget his words, “I can see you doing this.” Mr. Ellis had an incredible vision
for me, one I would have never had for myself. He met with my parents and conveyed
the importance of paving a musical road for me. He made connections for lessons with
a master university piano teacher, helped make the seminar a reality each and every
year, found me a job as a light opera accompanist, and continued his influence
throughout my college career.
The lessons I learned from Mr. Ellis formed the foundation for my own craft. My
teaching norms are based on the mutual respect I felt in that choir room. The
knowledge that we all have value is the credo that shapes my interactions with the
young people entrusted to my care. Mr. Ellis changed me. He charged me with the task
of finding the talents inherent in each of my students and actively doing something to
help develop them.
When I consider the sheer potential that sits in front of me each and every hour, I am
filled with a sense of purpose. My teacher and mentor, Mr. Jack Ellis, kindled that flame
many years ago when he envisioned my future and helped make it happen. To quote
Henry David Thoreau, “It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”