{"id":1318739,"date":"2020-03-14T22:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T04:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=994570"},"modified":"2020-03-15T14:48:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-15T20:48:48","slug":"sunday-profile-artistic-learning-twice-as-nice-under-tami-wisleys-direction-of-artist-year-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/sunday-profile-artistic-learning-twice-as-nice-under-tami-wisleys-direction-of-artist-year-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday profile: Artistic learning twice as nice under Tami Wisley\u2019s direction of Artist Year program"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Band teacher Tami Wisley instructs from the front of the classroom during the 5th grade brass band practice at Carbondale Middle School.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em>
<\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Band teacher Tami Wisley instructs from the front of the classroom during the fifth-grade brass band practice at Carbondale Middle School.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em>
<\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Eighth-grade trombone student Nicole Topete is getting double the benefit out of band class this year.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Carbondale Middle School band has not just one but two teachers, thanks to the Americorps Artist Year program and the school\u2019s primary band teacher, Tami Wisley.<\/p>\n

Wisley is the band director at both CMS and Roaring Fork High School, but she has also worked as the lead coordinator for Artist Year in the Roaring Fork School District since its inception three years ago. <\/p>\n

The program places music and visual arts teaching fellows in area schools for a year, in conjunction with the Aspen Music Festival and School. <\/p>\n

The paid fellowship helps young teaching artists become established and pay off student loan debt through a year of service, while exposing students in low-income and rural communities to the arts.<\/p>\n

Topete started out playing trumpet and baritone, and now is an accomplished trombone player with the eighth-grade brass and jazz bands.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s teaching fellow in Carbondale, Rosalie Avery, happens to be a trombone player, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I play the music the first time around, I don\u2019t always understand the melody or some of the notes or chords,\u201d Topete said. \u201cWhen (Avery) is there, I can listen to her and then I tune myself to her playing. After hearing her play it a few times, then I can understand and play it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly the above-and-beyond type of individualized instruction the Artist Year program can create, Wisley said of having the addition of Avery in the band room.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer time basically doubles the instructor in the classroom,\u201d Wisley said. \u201cSo, instead of me with a classroom of 30 or 40 students, there\u2019s two of us,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a professional musician and knows a lot about music, and she\u2019s really fun and brings a lot of life to the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing the arts <\/h4>\n
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Teacher fellow Rosalie Avery looks to Tami Wisley during the 5th grade brass band practice at Carbondale Middle School.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em>
<\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Avery is one of five teaching fellows who are spending the school year in music and art rooms from Glenwood Springs to Basalt through Artist Year. <\/p>\n

\u201cI compare it to \u2018Peace Corps for the arts,\u2019\u201d said Wisley, whose job it is to work with the organization, based in Philadelphia, to place teaching artist in the local schools.<\/p>\n

Teaching fellows are given a stipend starting at about $18,000 for the year, plus insurance, in exchange for 1,700 hours of service in arts teaching. <\/p>\n

The Roaring Fork Schools join inner-city schools in Philadelphia and New York City in participating in the program, thanks in part to financial support from the Aspen Music Festival and School.<\/p>\n

That support is huge in bringing music and art education to students who might not otherwise be exposed to it, Wisley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that relationships make the biggest difference in education,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you have one teacher who\u2019s giving it their all, that\u2019s great. But students connect with people in different ways, so I love the fact that students connect with someone when I can\u2019t always do that on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coupled with immense support from Jazz Aspen Snowmass, music education is thriving in the Roaring Fork Valley, Wisley added.<\/p>\n

Students like Topete, who just participated with 120 young musicians as part of the AMFS All-Valley Honor Band, and some recent high school students who\u2019ve been accepted to notable music schools, are examples of that success, she said. <\/p>\n

Finding her own passion<\/h4>\n

Wisley (formerly Suby) is in her second year teaching band in Carbondale after several years teaching at Glenwood Springs High School.<\/p>\n

She replaced former band instructor Mark Gray at CMS and RFHS, who had become a bit of an institution in Carbondale\u2019s music education scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took some time for the students to accept me, but they\u2019re all in now,\u201d Wisley said, noting that the band program between the middle and high schools has grown to about 170 students this year, from about 130 when she started.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just had 34 kids in the All Valley Honor Band, including almost all of the seventh and eighth grade,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was an amazing event. The students are seeing what\u2019s possible for themselves musically, and they love a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the high school level, Mark Johnson from Jazz Aspen Snowmass leads the jazz band.<\/p>\n

Between that partnership and Artist Year, Wisley said she continues to learn herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust watching them, and what they\u2019re doing with the kids, and the coaching them from what I know, I get to be a better teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisley was born in Bangkok, Thailand, where her parents were in community development. After stints in Southeast Asia and the Philippines, the family returned to the United States where she attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came out to Colorado to be a ski bum in 1994,\u201d as the story often goes for Roaring Fork Valley transplants. \u201cI lived in my Volkswagen, taught snowboarding and worked at art galleries, because I had an art history minor.\u201d<\/p>\n

After doing that for a few years, she went back to school to become a teacher. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy first day in the seventh-grade classroom, I knew this is what I was going to do,\u201d Wisley said. \u201cSixteen years later, I still love teaching. It\u2019s exhausting, sure. But then the kids fill you all the way back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has two sons, Quinn, who is in the seventh grade at CMS and plays the saxophone, and 5-year-old Teddy, who is \u201cprobably going to be a drummer,\u201d Wisley said.<\/p>\n

Community fellowship<\/h4>\n

\u201cIt basically changes the program, and what\u2019s possible for kids,\u201d Wisley said of the Artist Year program.<\/p>\n

Glenwood Springs Elementary and High schools, Riverview School, along with all three Carbondale schools and Basalt Middle School are benefitting from artist-teacher fellowships this year in band, choir and the visual arts.<\/p>\n

Next year, she hopes to place a theater writer in one of the schools.<\/p>\n

Wisley works in conjunction with Margo Drakos, founder and CEO of the Artist Year program \u2014 also a former artist in residence at the Aspen Music Festival \u2014 to place the teaching fellows in the Roaring Fork Schools. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a rather intensive recruiting process in institutions across the nation,\u201d Drakos said. The list ranges from Julliard, Duke and UCLA to several higher education partners in Colorado. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe identify not only their art form and expertise, but also their commitment to service and passion for teaching and bringing the arts to underserved youth in particular,\u201d Drakos said.<\/p>\n

Artist Year received $1.45 million in National Americorps funding in 2017, and additional funding in 2018 to essentially double the program over three years, she said.<\/p>\n

To date, the program has trained and supported 136 Artist Year fellows, serving in 126 high-needs schools.<\/p>\n

Locally, last year alone, five teaching fellows provided 8,000 hours of arts education to more than 2,100 students in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt.<\/p>\n

Many of the teaching fellows end up staying in the communities where they are placed after their fellowship is completed. Some are hired on full time in the schools, and others teach private lessons or become involved in organizing other arts events and programs. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be impossible to do without our local leads,\u201d Drakos said. \u201cTami is one of the key components to our approach \u2026 to come in and expand and enhance what they\u2019re already doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That support extends to other local organizations, such as Carbondale Arts and the local libraries, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBottom line, arts in schools keep kids in school, especially those who are high risk for drop out or other challenges\u201d Drakos added.<\/p>\n

In Carbondale, Wisley\u2019s band students will conclude the school year playing during the May 1 First Fridays street celebration, followed by the fifth-12th grade band concert and dessert cafe at Roaring Fork High School on May 13. <\/p>\n

The Artist Year fellows will then have a graduation party on May 15, which will involve several of the students, as well.  <\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Band teacher Tami Wisley instructs from the front of the classroom during the 5th grade brass band practice at Carbondale Middle School.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Buy Photo Band teacher Tami Wisley instructs from the front of the classroom during the fifth-grade brass band practice at Carbondale Middle School.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Buy Photo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1318739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-06 21:12:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1318745,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318739\/revisions\/1318745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}