Nationally recognized Oswego High School music teachers seek to instill love for music in their students

Oswego High School Band Director Stephanie San Roman and Oswego High School Associate Band Director Kevin Schoenbach want to instill in their students a love for music.

They are being honored for their efforts. San Roman is being recognized by the CMA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Country Music Association, as a 2023 Music Teacher of Excellence. She is one of only 30 music teachers across the country to receive the award.

The CMA Foundation will host its seventh Music Teachers of Excellence ceremony Sept. 19 in Nashville. Along with a night of celebration and recognition, the CMA Foundation will invest $150,000 total to all of this year’s recipients.

“The arts are a vital part of the world. And our biggest job is to make sure it stays important.”

—  Oswego High School Associate Band Director Kevin Schoenbach

Schoenbach has been chosen as one of 212 quarterfinalists for the Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum. A total of 212 music teachers from 197 cities were announced as quarterfinalists for the Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum.

This is the third time Schoenbach has been chose as a quarterfinalist.

More than 2,000 nominations were submitted. Each year, one recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students’ lives. The honoree will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the 66th Annual Grammy Awards and a range of Grammy Week events.

The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants. Fifteen semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants. The semifinalists will be announced in September.

San Roman said she was humbled by the honor.

“It was a shock when I found out. I certainly wasn’t expecting anything, but it was a huge honor.”

San Roman said her first and foremost goal for her students is to provide good musical and learning experiences.

“We have bands at all different types of levels. We have some students who are really advanced and we have our beginning level bands. We have all sorts of concerts. Some of the bands travel and perform at festivals and things.”

For one of the bands to win an award at a festival is “icing on the cake,” San Roman said. “The biggest thing is to make sure that everybody is growing and having a good musical experience.”

The interactions she establishes with her students and their families is what she likes best about being a band director.

“We get to see the students grow right when they walk in the door freshman year all the way to when they are seniors,” San Roman said. “Sometimes we have families who have kids that are all different ages. We have known the parents for 13 or 14 years because we’ve been with them as their kids have gone through the program, too.”

San Roman and Schoenbach have been working together for 14 years.

“It’s very much a partnership between both of us,” she said. “We see it as an equal partnership, just working to provide some good experiences for the students.”

Schoenbach’s said his main objective is to make sure his students become “lifelong consumers of the arts.”

“The arts are important,” he said. “The arts are a vital part of the world. And our biggest job is to make sure it stays important.”

Their students also learn such life lessons as the importance of working together.

“When you’re in an ensemble, everybody is important,” San Roman said. “And everybody is essential. You’ve got to rely on each other and you got to be responsible and hold yourself accountable.”

Schoenbach said he is honored and humbled to be recognized for his work.

“There’s a lot of really great band directors and band programs in our immediate vicinity,” he said.

San Roman agreed.

“I would agree with Kevin that there’s so many great music teachers and teachers in general out there that don’t get recognized for all the work that they do,” she said.

Half of each Oswego SD308 teacher’s investment will go toward their classroom needs and music programs and the other half will support personal expenses. Funding is used to not only support teachers financially, but to also encourage commitment, motivation and retention in music education.