April 29, 2024
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Superintendent at D-86 in Joliet receives award at 2022 ILMEA conference.

Theresa Rouse is committed to giving students a quality music experience

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
Joliet Public Schools District 86 Superintendent Theresa Rouse recently received the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) Outstanding Administrator Award. The award was presented to Rouse during the 2022 Illinois Music Education Conference held recently in Peoria.

Joliet Public Schools District 86 Superintendent Theresa Rouse recently received the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) Outstanding Administrator Award. The award was presented to Rouse during the 2022 Illinois Music Education Conference held recently in Peoria. (Photo provided)

Joliet Public Schools District 86 Superintendent Theresa Rouse recently received the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) Outstanding Administrator Award.

Rouse received the award during the 2022 Illinois Music Education Conference held recently in Peoria, according to a news release from Joliet Public Schools District 86.

The ILMEA presents this annual award to a school administrator “who supports his/her music program in a manner only possible as an administrator” and “who provides encouragement and support of music education in their school, district and state,” according to the release.

She's only had since Thanksgiving to brush up. But she's happy to participate and glad Hunt asked her to do it. "I said, 'Yes,' because I love our music program, and the more I can support it, the better," Rouse said. "Music is such an important part of the learning process,and I want to be able to show the students it's important to me to join them on this tour." In fact, the music program was one of the reasons Rouse wanted to work at District 86.

In 2017, Joliet Public Schools District 86 Superintendent Therese Rouse, on violin, performed Christmas carols with the Hufford Junior High School orchestra on on WJOL and at Louis Joliet Mall.

Joliet Public Schools District 86 Fine Arts Coordinator Adam Rusek nominated Rouse for the award because Rouse does “whatever it takes” to give students a quality music experience and to “demonstrate our devotion to equity in education to the community,” Rusek said in the release.

“She strives for a well-rounded education for all of our students, knowing that music is a large part of a student’s positive school experience,” Rusek said in the release.

In fact, Rouse’s support of the music department has allowed District 86 to offer a general music curriculum at all 15 elementary schools, District 86 music educator Clifford Hunt said in the release.

In the release, Rouse expressed her pride in District 86′s music programs and said, “Music has always been a big part of my life.”

Rouse said she had not played violin since high school and she graduated in 1980. In fact, Rouse said she didn't even own a violin. Orchestra director Clifford Hunt loaned her one so she could practice at home.

In a 2017 Herald-News story, Joliet Public Schools District Superintendent Theresa Rouse shared how she had played violin in high school and still played the piano at home. Rouse received the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) Outstanding Administrator Award during the 2022 Illinois Music Education Conference held recently in Peoria.

In a 2017 Herald-News story, Rouse said began playing piano at 6 and violin in the sixth grade. In that same story, Rouse recalled begging for piano lessons in kindergarten and the school music teacher telling her mother, “If she’s still asking when she turns 6, we’ll start lessons.”

“On my sixth birthday, a piano arrived at my house and I had my first lesson on my sixth birthday,” Rouse said in the story.

For Rouse, music feels like an extension of herself, she said. Rouse began playing piano at 6 and violin in the sixth grade. Rouse recalled begging for piano lessons in kindergarten and the school music teacher telling her mother, "If she's still asking when she turns 6, we'll start lessons." "On my sixth birthday, a piano arrived at my house and I had my first lesson on my sixth birthday," Rouse said.

In a 2017 Herald-News story, Joliet Public Schools District Superintendent Theresa Rouse said music has always been important in her life. "On my sixth birthday, a piano arrived at my house and I had my first lesson on my sixth birthday," Rouse, pictured above on her sixth birthday, said in the story. Rouse received the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) Outstanding Administrator Award during the 2022 Illinois Music Education Conference held recently in Peoria.

Rouse took piano lessons through high school and was still playing her piano at home in 2017.

“In sixth grade, I had actually asked to play the clarinet,” Rouse said in the story. “But we didn’t have a clarinet at home. We had a violin. So I played that.”