Teachers Who Rock!

Have you ever had a favorite superhero? Doesn’t that superhero always have another side to them to keep their secret identity. Teachers are just the same. Teachers are always made out to be just teachers, nothing more. But if you dig a little deeper you might discover something new.

Mr. Dain is a guitar player of forty-one years. He is self-taught and began when a cousin of his brought over a guitar and said” This is a good way to get girls”. Mr. Dain played in cover bands during his youth, playing Rolling Stones and many more.  Now he plays mostly Gospel and Country music from the 1800’s. Mr. Dain began as music major in college; however, he took a different into art, which eventually led him to teaching.

Everyone knows the man who stalks the halls of West, dressed in suit and tie, and one of the most sophisticated persons here at West. At a young age, Dr. Ashburn began taking piano lessons. “ Piano was fun, but I was too hyper to just sit down and play. I wanted an instrument to which I could move and jump around and play”, said Ashburn. From learning the piano, Ashburn was able to read sheet music, while in college he picked up the guitar and was able to read the fingerings and jam Rock N Roll with his dorm mates. But once Dr. Ashburn made it to Graduate School, his time to play was lost due to his studies, although he does plan to pick up the guitar and continue from where he left off.

Mr. Moses began playing guitar at the age of eleven, taking six years of lessons. He played in his first band at the age of fourteen, an all-original band. But the band did not go far because they didn’t let in much influence from Mr. Moses, so he moved on. “ I had to choose between having a wife and kid someday or living the life of a rock star”, Said Mr. Moses. He did not take the path of a rock star because he did not want to live that life. Instead, Mr. Moses went to college for teaching and is still taking classes today. He still plays today recording and creating his own albums the way that he likes.

It is magnificent that these teachers still hold onto this skill even after the way their life changed. Not many people would do that. But music is something that catches everyone’s attention and if they were to take their lecture and put it into poetic from and sung over the guitar, it might make the lesson a bit more interesting.

Mr. Dain and son hangout as Mr. Dain jams on his standard Gibson Les Paul.

Dr. Ashburn looks up to a suprised Ms. Jones as he strums a C chord.

Mr. Moses shows off a few of his techniques on Ms. Bycynski's Epiphone Acoustic.