One of the more innovative ways the Frost School of Music showcases itself to prospective students is the annual Super Teacher Weekend, which brings a nationwide group of high-school teachers to the university’s Coral Gables campus for an all-expenses-paid weekend. These selected Super Teachers get to network and brainstorm with each other as well as with Frost School faculty and students – the perfect way of getting the school onto the radar of prominent teachers who oversee the next class of potential Frost School students.
“We understand the significant work that high-school music teachers do, and every year, we typically get a surge in applications from the schools we bring in Super Teachers from,” says Dominic Castillejo, Director of Admissions for the Frost School. “But it’s not just about numbers. We also want to develop and maintain the Frost School brand in the eyes of teachers and students. We see Super Teachers Weekend as a good-will event where we share the great things we’re doing with high-quality programs here.”
This year’s Super Teacher Weekend event took place on March 27-30 with a group of seven educators from across the country. While not all of them were familiar with the Frost School going in, everyone came away impressed with the school’s offerings.
“It was a very cool experience,” says Michael Paulez, Director of Bands at Denver School of the Arts in Colorado. “I knew a little about the Frost School but not about the scope and breadth of opportunities they have there. It’s a very different, innovative program regarding commercial music and real-world opportunities. The Frost School of Music has an immersive nature that’s also individualistic enough to create opportunities for many students. Right now, I have one in particular who plays classical clarinet, jazz, experimental sax, and piano. I don’t know many places where she could get lessons on all of it, so the Frost School would be a unique opportunity for her in that regard.”
Super Teacher participants were selected based on several factors, most notably recommendations from Frost School faculty. That’s how Joe Cantaffa from Howell High School in New Jersey came to be part of it. Dr. Raina Murnak, Assistant Professor in the Frost School’s Modern Artist Development and Entrepreneurship (M.A.D.E.) program, recommended him after they crossed paths at a number of academic events.
“I’ve been fortunate to be in a lot of places with beautiful ideas circulating, and this was special,” says Cantaffa, an instructor in the entertainment technology program of Howell’s Fine & Performing Arts Center (F.P.A.C.), who separately oversees The RockNRoll Chorus, an ensemble of high school vocalists who perform and record with major artists. “I got to watch a couple of rehearsals and classes, and they absolutely treat their students like colleagues. The teacher is more experienced and leads the discussion, but it never felt like there was a line between teacher and student. It was a vibrant, organic, alive learning space. The collegial respect every faculty member showed each other was refreshing, too. I left wanting to be on their staff.”
Throughout, the networking aspect was as important as the recruiting part of the program. Dr. Annamarie Bollino, Supervisor of the Arts for Prince William County Schools in Virginia, says she constantly looks for new ways to prepare students to be competitive in whatever they pursue, college or the workforce.
“What sets the Frost School apart is the comprehensiveness of their program and how interconnected all of it is,” says Bolino. “I found the conversations invigorating. The Frost School calls its faculty world-class, and every professor we met really was so professional, passionate and willing to engage in dialogue. I came back with connections I can bring to teachers and students. I feel very positive about that, and what future collaborations might look like.”
Chances are good that the Super Teacher Weekend program will result in some new students coming to the Frost School in the future.
“When evaluating peers and schools, I judge them by whether or not I’d send my future children there,” says Paulez. “I would send my own children to the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, 100 percent. I know they’d be in excellent hands there.”
