We were lucky to catch up with Sharie Garcia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sharie, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

A group of high school music teachers (I was one of them) got together back in about 2017 to begin work on crafting a school board policy that would require music education in every school in our district. Changes in state and federal government, as well as some newly elected local school board members helped our music policy to pass in 2019. At that time our district had only 50 music teachers for 156 schools. The board passed the policy without knowing how they would fund it because they believed that music instruction was essential for kids. Music was also important to the people of the City of Milwaukee – following the passage of the music policy our district went to a referendum and the citizens of Milwaukee came out in that terrible pandemic to vote for the referendum that would fund the music policy. I completed an MBA in Educational Leadership just as all of this was happening and was selected to be the Music Curriculum Specialist in May of 2020. Since 2020 our music faculty has grown from 50 teachers to include 133 music educators and support staff. The referendum has funded opportunity for children by enabling us to create music jobs, purchase musical instruments and equipment, and grow our music support staff to include two instruments specialists to manage equipment and supplies for 156 schools, and hire two music teacher leaders to work as coaches for our many new music teachers. We expect to add additional staff for the 2025-26 school year.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in a small city in Alberta, Canada and started out singing and playing the piano. Once I joined the band in grade 7 and started playing the oboe I knew I had found my people! I got an undergraduate degree in oboe performance, then started looking for grad schools to study band conducting. UW-Milwaukee had a hands on, very practical program that was ideal for the way I learn – by just doing the thing! I was able to study band conducting while working for the orchestra program and I learned a lot about music administration in both positions. I never thought I wanted to be a teacher until I had a chance to work with a high school group in Milwaukee. I loved that age and decided to postpone a doctorate (which is still on hold some 30 years later, but oh well!) and get a job teaching in Milwaukee Public Schools. Through a series of very lucky events I ended up at Milwaukee High School of the Arts where I was the proud band director for 22 years. Politics can affect education profoundly (as I think we are about to find out again…) and I realized that to really affect change for kids I needed to move to administration. After that realization another series of lucky events – finishing my MBA, the previous guy quitting, the music policy and referendum passing – all led to me working as the Music Curriculum Specialist for Milwaukee Public Schools. Besides my husband and two children – all of whom are musicians, no surprise – this job is the joy of my life. I feel proud of the progress we are making to provide opportunities for children, I am incredibly thankful for the creative and caring team of music educators that I get to work with, and I want people to know that change is possible – just start working on it – it may turn out better than you could have hoped.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Music is a human right. No child should grow up without the opportunity to learn about music- that is the mission that drives my work and keeps my team grounded. We are building on and growing our traditional ensemble programs while adding more 21st Century and culturally responsive music opportunities like music technology and modern band, so that all kids can find something creative that speaks to them.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I spoke about this briefly in another answer, but moving from teaching high school band to managing 133 music teachers and and all of music for a district of 60,000 kids was a huge transition. I love teaching and I miss kids every day. It was tough to realize that my role in the classroom – while it was important to the kids in front of me – was not going to help any of the other kids in our district get what they deserved. Music teachers often refer to admin as ‘the dark side’ – or ‘big teacher’ – now that I’m on the other side I am able to affect change on a systems level and really put my passion for music education into practice on a large scale. Dont’ be afraid to pivot – it can be the best thing that ever happened.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us

Image Credits

Kara Posnanski and Alvin Connor