Noteworthy notes

Clinton educator takes ‘things that make noise’ and teaches his students how to make music

October 4, 2023 by Pete Gawda

“It’s fun working with these kids,” Jason Glashauser, music teacher at North and South Clinton elementary schools, said about his music classes.

“We take things that make noise and make music.”

Watching him at work and observing the energy and enthusiasm he puts into his music lessons, it is easy to see why Glashauser was named Music Teacher of Excellence two years in a row by the Country Music Association Foundation, an affiliate of the Country Music Association in Nashville.

According to the CMA Foundation website, the music teacher award is meant to “recognize educators who are having the greatest impact on their students using the power of music as an avenue for change.”

The foundation also provides grants to strengthen music programs, funds research to amplify the impact music has on students, and shares information and resources.

Each year, the CMA Foundation presents 30 teacher awards. They go to 10 music educators in the Nashville area, 10 across the rest of Tennessee, and 10 throughout the nation.

Each award recipient receives a $5,000 stipend to be split between classroom and personal needs.

“I thought it was a real honor for them to support the schools and me,” Glashauser said.

He used part of his stipend to buy ukuleles for his students.

The music teacher medal is the same design as the awards presented by the CMA to professional musicians.

Glashauser said the award ceremony lasted all day, climaxing with a dinner that evening, which included entertainment by several well-known country music acts.

The awards went to elementary school music teachers, choral teachers and band directors, a wide variety of music educators with a range of experience and expertise. Glashauser considers the award to be an honor for Clinton.

“For one small community to be recognized, that was special,” he said.

Glashauser is a native of Toledo, Ohio, and attended the University of Toledo and Western Michigan University.

“That was never my plan,” Glashauser said when asked why he became an elementary school music teacher. His plan was to be a college music professor. However, he added, “God had other plans.”

A parochial school in Lake Zurich, Illinois, a northwestern suburb of Chicago, took a chance on him as a music teacher for grades K-8. He thought he would be able to handle the older students and figure out how to deal with the younger ones.

However, he found it just the opposite. He loved working with the younger students — so much so that he went back to school to get certified in elementary school music education.

Glashauser, who is in his seventh year with Clinton schools, has a total of 22 years as an elementary school music teacher including 10 years in Elkhart, Indiana, as well as one year as a music professor at a community college.

Glashauser makes learning music fun, and his students seem to enjoy his music classes.

His students first learn the sounds by singing back to him the notes he plays on a recorder. Then they learn to read notes.

“They actually create their own music,” he said. “It is much more meaningful when it comes from them.

“Every class is different,” he said.

Glashauser uses a variety of musical instruments, including xylophones, drums, and percussion.

“We do a little bit of everything,” he said.

Fourth-grade students play the recorder. Fifth-graders learn to play an instrument important in Appalachian culture, the dulcimer. His sixth-graders play the ukulele. As they are finishing the sixth grade his students put on a performance.

His goal is not to make professional musicians of his students, but people who can sing in church and sing lullabies to their children, he said.

He wants to give them life-long skills in music that they can use in ordinary life, not as professionals.