Interview: How to Harmonize with Cheryl McNeil
Cheryl McNeil is a teacher of music at Boston Public Schools whose students come from all over the world. Being so dedicated as she is, she decided she would then visit other countries besides her own to learn from her students’ perspective.
Below is a summary of our interview:
Quote
“Every job is a self-portrait of yourself. The person who did autographed your work with excellence.”
The Journey
Since Cheryl was young, she’s always loved music and she always loved singing. In third grade, Cheryl was harmonizing with her mother at church. Harmonizing at church, she felt safe because everyone just smiled along. Years later she searched for music jobs and found Music Therapy. Cheryl went on to pursue music therapy at Berklee College of Music.
After college, it was difficult to find a job. So Cheryl took one working with special needs students. It was one of the hardest and humbling jobs. She had to teach the same thing over and over. After that job, she found she could apply music therapy to any population and ended up working with older people.
Preparing lesson plans for the elderly led Cheryl to go down the road to try teaching in the classroom. She heard of an opening at a school in Boston that might be coming up. She ended up applying for the position and got it. She is now a teacher at Boston Public Schools.
When Cheryl needed to get a Masters, she signed up for grad school in Switzerland. Next summer, she’s going to Ecuador to brush up on her Spanish.
Low Point
Her first year of teaching, in the first day, a kid picked up his shoe and threw it at someone else and she had to figure out what she was going to do about it. And it was hard to figure out how she was going to be her best self in the next 6 months.
Aha Moment
She started keeping a journal where anything positive happened during the day, she’d remember it when she had a difficult moment. Little tiny victories, like getting a student to perform in front of his peers, for Cheryl make her believe she was in the right spot.
Cheryl’s work now
She runs a music program (as a volunteer) for Zumix, a nonprofit in East Boston. Sheryl and her co-teacher teach kindergarten through 8th grade, including students with special needs. Her students come from 46 different countries.
Cheryl hopes to create a program for pop music song writing ensemble alongside music that honors the cultures and identities of her students. Her biggest challenge now is that she needs to better include students who are just learning English for the first time. To differentiate her teaching is her biggest struggle, but also something she’s excited about.
Lightning Round
Book Cheryl Recommends:
Phillipa Gregory is Cheryl’s favorite author
[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”center” asin=”0743246071″ cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WKWGSP5gL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”purposerockst-20″ width=”105″]Helpful Habit:
Balancing her work and family and sports life.
Helpful Person:
Vice principal Mr. Johnson. She really appreciates him.
Internet Resource:
Facebook page, Humans of New York.
What’s Your Purpose?
To help others and to help spread knowledge. She wants to be a sponge and to change as a reflection of the individuals she comes into contact with.
Where to follow Cheryl
Her email: Cherylmcneil22@gmail.com
Parting Words
Something she learned was every single human being comes from a different place and experience. Nothing makes anyone better than other people so it’s important to be a sponge and learn from everyone and don’t take things personally.
One More Thing
If you enjoy this interview, please take some time to rate and review us on iTunes or Stitcher.
