By LESLEY MARROQUIN
Staff Writer
If you don’t know, Ms. Pallas is the El Diamante Band Director. Now with everything that is going on in the world, many freshmen in band won’t get to connect with Pallas like upperclassmen have these past few years. We usually spend hours and hours with her at band camp, rehearsals, and at competitions. Of course COVID has prevented any of that from happening this year. So, I decided to interview her so freshman band geeks and other students can get to know a little more about Pallas and connect like myself and other band members have with her over the past few years.
So, how long have you been teaching? Have you taught at other schools or for other grade levels?
“This is my 11th year teaching! I taught for two years at Riverdale High School and Riverdale Elementary School, where I taught elementary music, beginning band, junior high band, and high school band. I left to take a job at Ceres High School so I could be on one campus, and I taught at Ceres High School for four years- I taught band and choir there. I left Ceres High to come to El Diamante; I was excited about the opportunity to just teach band and to come be a part of a great program. I also have personal ties to Visalia, so it has been nice to be in a community and town that I enjoy. This is now my 5th year at El D!”
Where did you go to college?
“I have a BA in Music Education and a Single Subject Teaching Credential in Music from Fresno State, and my Masters in Band Conducting from Sam Houston State University in Texas.”
What was your favorite subject growing up?
“My favorite subject growing up was band, which was why I chose to teach it. However, my favorite core class was always English.”
What made you want to become a teacher?
“I don’t know if anything specific made me want to be a teacher… I’ve just wanted to be a teacher for as far back as I can remember. My mom is a teacher, and I always really enjoyed school, so it seemed like a natural fit for me.”
What do you love about teaching?
“My favorite part of teaching is the opportunity I have to mentor students through what is typically such a pivotal time in their lives. Band and music are definitely the vehicle for that in the sense that by the time my students become seniors, we’ve spent so much time together in rehearsals, at football games, and traveling to competitions, that we have usually built up a lot of trust. Because that trust has been built, I find that students will often come ask me for advice about whatever important life event they are going through. I take that trust and those opportunities very seriously and I enjoy being able to help kids navigate those life events. I love teaching high school because it’s such an exciting time for students; they’re on the cusp of adulthood and figuring out what they want their adult life to be like, and I really enjoy being a small part of helping them figure that out. From a band perspective, high school band is a lot more exciting than elementary or junior high because we are able to play far more advanced music and because we get to compete at a high level. I’m grateful to be a teacher and I’m grateful that I get to teach high school band.”
What do you think about distance learning? If you work at home and not in the classroom, have you found the balance of separating work from your home life? If you have, how did you come to figure it out or are you still trying to figure it out and adjust?
“Distance learning is difficult and frustrating for everyone. Internet is unreliable, it’s not a natural environment to learn or teach in, and the screen time is unbearable. However, I do prefer distance learning over not being able to have any face to face contact with my students as we did last spring; even in times of difficulty there is still a silver lining, and in this case, it’s that at least I’m able to see my students again. I missed them VERY much between the school closure and summer break. I have been working from home. My original plan was to go into school a couple of days a week (because Mrs. Fritz and I share an office, we can’t both work from school on the same days,) but after the first couple of days of school I realized that being in the band room would be too sad for me. Zoom is especially brutal on music classes, because music classes are full of life, and noise, and, well- music. Zoom is eerily quiet and I have grown to loathe the mute button. I just didn’t feel like I could be in the band room and have it be silent in there while I was teaching, so now I am teaching exclusively from home. I have made a very conscious effort to separate work life from home life even though they’re in the same place; I only use my computer for work in my home office, and I only go in my home office to do work; I have tried to completely separate that space from the rest of my home so that the rest of my house can still be my respite. I also make a conscious effort to only check my school email during work hours. I still do prep work outside of school hours, but turning off my email at 3:30 allows me to better focus on that prep work. I also consciously choose a time to stop working each day and have made myself stick to it by scheduling Zoom hang outs or phone calls with friends, or some other fun activity that starts exactly when my work time is supposed to end. That structure has been really helpful in staying sane during these crazy times!”
Do you think we will go back to in person learning this school year?
“It is hard to say whether we will go back in person this school year. I hope we will, and I believe many teachers, students, and district personnel hope so as well. However, if the last several months have taught me anything, it’s that hope and reality are two very different things. I would be pleasantly surprised if we went back in person this school year.”
Is there anything you found interesting or helped keep you sane during quarantine?
“Staying sane during quarantine was really difficult at times. I did a lot of organizing and worked on projects around my house that often get put on the back burner because I don’t normally have the time. I did a lot of Zoom game nights with my friends (who are spread out all over the state,) and those gave me something to look forward to a couple times a week. Additionally, I am on the executive board of the California Band Directors Association, and we utilized the extra time during quarantine to hold a lot of meetings and accomplish a lot of things on our to-do list that we wouldn’t have normally had time for; those meetings gave me a sense of purpose and accomplishment that I would normally get from work, and the Zoom game nights with friends gave me something fun to look forward to. Those two things combined helped me maintain my sanity. I also really enjoy musical theater, so I was really excited when Hamilton dropped on Disney+! My friends and I had a giant Zoom watch party over 4th of July and that was really fun.”
Do you have any hobbies or interests? Do any affect your style of teaching?
“I think, like many people, my favorite thing to do is spend time with my friends and family, which has obviously been difficult to do these past few months. However, beyond those things, my hobbies include playing board games, doing home decor, and watching musical theater. Enjoying playing board games doesn’t necessarily have an effect on my work, but there is a correlation there; I’m competitive, and that competitive side shows through in my work when it comes to marching band, and in my personal life in the sense that one of my hobbies is essentially trying to beat my friends at whatever game we’re playing. Competitive marching band is essentially putting a musical on a football field (a field show has music; instead of blocking we have drill; each activity has props and costumes, some sort of plot or story arc, etc.) so I think the similarity between work and musical theater is pretty obvious.”
Are there any fun facts about you, or something people would not expect you to like and/or do? (i.e a secret talent or random interest)
“Fun facts: I am the Secretary of the California Band Directors Association, which is a position I’m elected to by band directors all over the state. I just started my 5th year in this position, which means I was recently elected to a 3rd term. This means I get to help affect policy and change, and even help advocate for the Arts at the state level sometimes. Separately, another fun fact is that I can wiggle my ears, haha.”
Is there anything else you would like us to know? “Thanks for interviewing me! I love my job and love being an El Diamante Miner!”