Specifying, funding and installing music labs is no easy feat. However, using them to teach takes an even more robust plan… (The second of a four-part series on keyboard labs)

For generations, the podium has symbolized authority, expertise, and leadership in the band room. It’s where we learned to conduct, where we were taught to stand, and where many of us still instinctively go when rehearsal begins. But in a modern classroom—one shaped by collaboration, student voice, and social-emotional awareness—it may be worth asking an important question: What does the podium communicate to our students today?

Sharon Selinger, Band Program Director, Music Production Teacher, Digital Music Librarian at Pine Crest School, FL - When I think about great leaders, I think about the commitment they’ve made to do better, be better, and to keep on keeping on until they’re happy with the outcome. It’s that same perseverance, drive, and determination I’ve found in myself.

Michael Payen - Music Technology Teacher, Five Forks Middle School Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA - When students in grades 6 through 8 are assigned Music Technology as a connection class at my school, they often have questions about what that actually means.

Franklin J. Willis Director of Visual and Performing Arts, Metro Nashville Public Schools, TN - For more than a decade, my greatest joy was standing in front of a classroom of elementary music students, watching their eyes light up as they discovered their own musical gifts.