Teacher Appreciation Week: An Interview With High School Educator Keith Pray
**A condensed version of this interview appeared as part of our May print issue**
Photos by Kiki Vassilakis
“I want to see everybody find their path and do their thing and succeed at it; that's all that really matters.”
Here we are, halfway through Teacher Appreciation Week. We hope you’ve been showing your local teachers some well-deserved love and support this week – may we suggest treating them to a cup of coffee? To coincide with this week, I recently had the pleasure of interviewing a handful of our area’s many incredible arts educators for our May issue’s cover story. Each day this week, we’ve been highlighting these interviews individually, offering the additional space for their stories that print could not allow. Consider these the Extended Cut versions.
To all our educators – thank you for instilling a love of the arts into the next generation.
After three or four years of middle school, hordes of teenagers flock to high school at a time when hormones are on a rampage and the overall mentality is a bit “fuck around and find out.” It’s where students start learning more independence and responsibility in an effort to begin preparing them for the big, scary real world.
Keith Pray teaches music at Schenectady High, where he’s been for over 15 years. His passion for teaching developed while living in New York City after college, in pursuit of a performance career. To supplement income, he began teaching on the side, before meeting his wife and eventually moving to the Capital Region.
“I've been at Schenectady City Schools ever since,” he tells me. “I always enjoyed the interactions with students and trying to light the flame; I've been having a good time doing it ever since.”
As a local jazz artist and bandleader who performs regularly around the Capital Region, Keith has a special perspective that allows him to impact the kids in his classroom. The way he sees it, teaching high school band is more than just learning notes and scales. It’s about building a foundation for future musicians in the real world.
“I spend a lot of time teaching discipline, empathy and responsibility—all of that will equal quality music. I guess I would not be considered a traditional band teacher in that sense. Because I’ve had so much performance experience, I can put that into my teaching. If you're going to be in the real world, here are the expectations. You’ve got to be on time, you’ve got to be prepared, you’ve got to do your job. You don't do those things, then you're not going to be able to work in this field.”
Keith’s approach to teaching partly stems from experiences he had as a student—the good, the bad and the indifferent. He’s found valuable insight in reflecting on what worked for him as a kid and translating that into best practices now that he’s on the other side of the classroom.
“I've had what would be considered really great teachers and really poor teachers,” he admits. “All of them have inspired me and taught me things. A teacher who tried to shut me down, I would always try to not be that person for my students. I find the ones who shared life lessons to have had the most impact on me – teachers who just experience so much life, either touring or making music. I try to find a middle ground with that and translate it into what we're doing in the classroom, preparing kids for their life journey.”
As you’ve probably guessed by now, arts education at the high school level is not without its own unique set of challenges. Society’s impact builds and broadens, as teens are navigating an increasingly anxious and digital universe.
“What I see is a generation of people who are observing and consuming things virtually,” Keith notes. “And it’s not a judgement. But trying to get them excited about things that are in the physical world is actually more challenging than, you know, showing them a video—they might be more actively excited about that than actually making the music themselves.
“The other struggle is how does our society today value the arts? Mostly it’s purely entertainment. I try to teach the kids that ‘real art’ is to make somebody think and have a reaction rather than just consume it. So, that's a tough one, because that requires thought and if you're used to just witnessing things on the Internet, then you may or may not have real thoughts because you're consuming things at such a rapid pace.”
This insight conjures up another important factor of arts education—it’s a place where kids can be present without a device in their hand, exercising their minds in creative ways. It’s why Keith is so adamant about not cutting arts programs, something he has witnessed first hand throughout his tenure as an educator.
“Arts education provides all of the things that are in other classes. There's math, there's reading, there's science, but there’s also the thing that can't be taught in other classes as easily. The X-Factor—the thing you can't quantify but it makes a definite impact on the students. That's what more people need to realize to understand the importance of the arts programs.”
Like the other educators we’ve heard from this week, Keith encourages communication between families and their school districts. He is quick to point out that adults are navigating the same anxious, virtually-driven world that his students are. That common ground can be a blessing and a curse—it’s all in how we approach it.
“I don't think there's enough true community happening anymore,” Keith admits. “You don’t have to agree on everything. But if you could come up with some commonalities like, arts, sports and academics are all equally important because they have different purposes… great. Then work towards that common goal, to shape it in your community the way you want to see it.”
Overall, Keith’s passion for teaching is palpable. He raves about his school district and the opportunities it provides. He is genuinely excited to go to work each day which, as he tells me, boils down to one simple thing: the students.
“In all the best ways, I have characters. Schenectady is such a diverse population, and we are pretty good about trying to embrace all the different cultural variables. It sometimes gets a bad rap, but we actually have an amazing school district. There's not one day where I think I should be in some other school district. There’s so many opportunities for the kids, and so many great kids here. I want to see everybody find their path and do their thing and succeed at it; that's all that really matters.”
Thank you, Keith, for not only your dedication to preparing our next generation of musicians for the real world, but your inspiring contributions to the local music scene as well.
For some great ideas and materials you can use to thank a teacher this week, visit https://www.pta.org/home/events/PTA-Teacher-Appreciation-Week
