Before I came to The Delaware Military Academy, I used to be in band for Aspira Academy. Four of my five years playing the alto saxophone had been there, and for three of those years, my band director was Mrs. Lewis. Even though I have great teachers here at DMA, Mrs. Lewis just stands out to me in so many ways. Whether it’s her enthusiasm or surprisingly, her sternness, she’s overall an amazing teacher.
  My band director in 5th grade (whom I will not name) didn’t share the same passion that Mrs. Lewis showed. Whenever we finished a concert, we always had new music to start practicing. After we heard the samples of how the new songs should sound, we had a burst of excitement, and she always shared that excitement with us. When she’s directing the band, she had her game face on, but you could tell by her body language that the music had devoured her.
Everyone is always willing to talk about the “nicer side” of teachers, and when they’re being disciplinarians we always say “he/she doesn’t like me”. I believe that the disciplinary side of a teacher is a very important part of being an amazing educator.  Even though Mrs. Lewis is a very nice woman, she never shies away from putting someone in their place. I would be one to know, because I’ve gotten on her “bad” side on a few occasions, but she was just doing her job, and sometimes being “soft” isn’t enough for some kids to behave. Whenever we got off task during class, she made sure to get us back on track. Sometimes we had rehearsals and the whole band was 100% silent, so we wouldn’t distract ourselves. Even though this trait can be portrayed as “mean”, I’m grateful for this trait. I feel that when she had to get like that, it just assured me that she cared.
Even after two years of being in band, my love for music never really took off. I would hear songs on the radio, enjoy them, and that was it. I believe it was Mrs. Lewis’ love for music that rubbed off on me, and a love for music became engraved permanently into my life. I mention this because music has become a very critical factor that makes me who I am today, and without her, I wouldn’t be the same. Learning how to play an instrument can be a great experience, but combine that with an amazing teacher by your side and you get a lifelong love for creating music.
It’s been a year since I’ve had Mrs. Lewis as a teacher, and it’s been a year of missing the rays of energy and joy that she  brought to that school. During the end of the 8th grade school year, I was losing interest in being in band, and she noticed. She told me to finish that year off strong, whether I was to pursue band in the future or not. She taught me to finish what I started, whether I wanted to or not. That’s a huge principle that I need to keep in mind for my whole life.
This is why I nominate Mrs. Lewis as educator of the year, not only for being an amazing educator, but for being an amazing person. If I had one thing to say to her right now, I would probably say “Thank you Mrs. Lewis, you have been such a positive influence in my life. I’m sorry for any headaches I gave you, and thank you for being my band director for three years. Keep teaching those kids and keep changing lives, everything you do does not go unnoticed.”