Golden Apple Award: Hixson Middle School’s Brian Ailey
HAMILTON COUNTY, TN (WDEF) – Music is a fun and important part of a well-rounded education. At Hixson Middle, Brian Ailey hits all the right notes by making sure that every student feels like a valued and important part of his class. He’s won the Golden Apple before, but that was pre-pandemic. We felt it was time for a refrain.
Mike Papa is the Dean of Students at Hixson Middle School.
He explains, “Mr. Ailey is certainly one of those old school types of teachers, who go back to a time where teaching is truly an art, and the fact that it’s choir goes right into that kind of passion that it takes to teach the arts.”
When asked to describe himself Mr. Ailey says, “My name is Brian Ailey and I have been teaching chorus and now a music video production in Hamilton County for 35 years. Being around kids, keeps me feeling younger, and what I do is so much fun, and I see it in the kid’s eyes when they’re singing, when they’re working on a project or music video production, and they’re enjoying it. That’s when I know that that I’m making an impact on them.”
Here are a few student testimonies:
“I think he’s a really nice teacher, and he does a really got great job teaching us.”
“He makes everyone stay very positive with his great energy and stuff.”
“He makes a difference by teaching us and helping us learn singing.”
“He’s a very great person.”
“He makes like a positive impact on people and makes their day.”
Mr. Ailey explains, “In chorus we sing, that’s all we do. We sing, o-k. In music video production, we are creating podcasts. They go together, but they don’t you know. It’s nt… you don’t perform in music video production, at least, not yet. Each year, when I come to work, I’m wondering what are my students going to be like this year? Are they going to enjoy class? Am I going to help them enjoy class? It’s just a different thing every year, and it’s a different thing every day. It’s never a dull moment.”
He concludes, “I want them to remember how much they love music. I want them to remember some songs that we went over, and I want them to remember that I absolutely love them.”
