Years later Dave Petrelli worked in the Nashville music business, he experienced a moment in the city's Shelby Park that eclipsed any expectations he had for his career.
A former peermusic creative assistant and events director for the Nashville Songwriters Association International, Petrelli purposefully pursued music education, and one step on the journey involved teaching general education to fourth graders. Drawing on his innate skills, he often rewrote existing songs to teach students, and when a total solar eclipse took place in the city in 2017, Petrelli prepared his lessons by editing the Bonnie Tyler/Celine Dion hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” as “Total Eclipse of the Sun”.
When the big day arrived, Petrelli and his songwriter wife Victoria Banks (“Come On Over,” “Saints & Angels”), joined thousands in the park to watch the evening sky darken. About a dozen kids saw “Mr. Petrelli' and ran up to him to sing 'Total Eclipse of the Sun'.
“I didn't even expect this to be a moment,” he says now, “and it was a moment.”
Petrelli is one of 30 educators from eight states who will have another personal moment tonight (Sept. 17) when the Country Music Association recognizes them as CMA Music Teachers of Excellence at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. CMA has made music education a mission, channeling proceeds from the annual CMA Fest to programs vital to the development of future generations.
The program is so highly regarded that the teacher awards will feature both artists and educators, including Walker Hayes, Jordan Davis, Riley Green, Terry Clark and Gretchen Wilson.
The teaching positions may not be as glamorous as the tours these artists pursue, but they are “much more important,” CMA's senior vice president of relations Tiffany Kearns he says. “We have the best gigs in the world, don't get me wrong. But by far, what they do is far more impressive. And I mean, we're talking about a profound impact on communities.”
This impact is far-reaching. Music develops cooperative skills, learning to play an instrument builds discipline, and studying music rewires the brain, strengthening connectivity between different cortices and providing more pathways for thoughts to follow. Schools with music education, according to Kerns, have lower absenteeism rates. And since music teachers typically spend more time with individual students as they learn their instruments, they are often the instructors with whom students feel most comfortable disclosing hunger or mental health issues.
In Petrelli's case, students likely relate to him in part because he is one of them in spirit. Growing up in Connecticut, his mother—who taught Spanish—died when he was 10, and he had to fend for himself earlier than his peers.
“I grew up really fast, and because of that, there's still a lot of kid in me,” she says.
Petrelli was drawn to music early, and after graduating from Boston College, he taught the subject at a private Catholic elementary school for a year. He then earned a songwriting degree at Berklee College of Music, then moved to Nashville and worked in the music community. Once married, he and Banks decided that at least one of them should have a more secure job, and he switched to education.
The 'Total Solar Eclipse' moment came out of his approach, which combines music with other parts of the school's curriculum. A few years ago, when Lockeland Elementary operated under the school theme of “Lockeland is out of this world,” he would have classes explore the details in songs with galactic lyrics — such as David Bowie“Space Oddity”, Europe“The Final Countdown” or Elton John's “Rocket Man” — to better understand space and enhance the school experience.
“What I've found is that it makes kids really, really, really interested in what they're going to learn today,” Petrelli says. “My lesson is getting out of it.”
Other subjects, like math or science, have more cut-and-dry material—two plus two will always equal four—and Kerns suggests that these classes feel more “black and white” to students.
“When you walk into that music room, I really think Dave's students feel and see color right away,” he says. “There's something so vivid about his personality and the way he teaches, and that's a gift.”
CMA does not limit Teachers of Excellence awards to educators who use country music in their classrooms. Pop, jazz, R&B and mariachi have been used extensively by various honorees, although Petrelli does, in fact, incorporate country into his work, with songs from Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings and Shania Twain among the material he has used.
“The storytelling aspect is huge,” he says.
While teaching music may not be as glamorous as the careers of the artists Petrelli's classes draw from, it still tickles its own artistic itch.
“I teach six classes a day, and it's six one-hour shows,” he says. “It's a song and dance show for an hour, six times in a row. I have worked physically demanding, mentally demanding jobs. I've never been more exhausted at the end of the day than when I come home from a particularly hard day of teaching.”
It's usually a thankless job, although the Teachers of Excellence event shows some appreciation. And students provide feedback, whether they know it or not, at times like the 2017 eclipse. At times like these, Petrelli is reminded that the job is really an opportunity to inspire the next generation, even if it looks a little different than what he originally intended. envisioned.
“I always dreamed of girls screaming my name,” says Petrelli. “I didn't think they would be 9 years old and waving in their car, [yelling]Mr. Petrelli!”
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