In recent months we've seen a rise in employment opportunities for classroom guitar teachers. So much so that we added a Jobs Section to our Teacher Forum to keep you all up to date on the latest openings across the United States. In fact, a new job opening in New Mexico was just added this week!
We had a particularly powerful conversation about employment with CJ Renzi recently, and thought you'd appreciate his story. Sometimes hidden within the most devastating of situations is a spark of serendipity.
"My wife and I owned a studio in Houston. She taught reading and writing in one room, and I taught guitar in another. We did that for 13 years; I'd planned on perhaps retiring that way. Then Hurricane Harvey came, and wiped out our clientele. Our students had some of the most severe flooding for weeks and weeks, and stopped showing up to lessons. Eventually we realized, 'Oh, they're not coming back.'
We started looking around for jobs, and my wife found one right outside Austin. She made it possible for us to move. Through a welcoming community of educators, I discovered that a program called Breakthrough - an organization which helps students achieve a college education - was looking for a guitar teacher for a new initiative. Breakthrough serves economically and socially disadvantaged students from middle school through their last year of college. They help with academics, social awareness, other difficulties. My job would be to fulfill the arts need for them.
In addition to the great students, administrators, and Breakthrough staff, I received tons of support from Austin Classical Guitar. Everything from helping carry guitars to my car, making phone calls on my behalf, answering questions about GuitarCurriculum.com; I had so much support I couldn't go wrong!
In Breakthrough, all of the students were beginners. Their final concert was during the school's orientation for next fall, so there were hundreds of people in the audience. My students were visibly nervous to play. I just smiled, and tried to keep cool. I did play with them, because I knew that would make them feel more comfortable. At the end, there was big applause, the Breakthrough staff were really happy with it, the donors who'd funded the program were beaming, it was good all the way around."
Soon after we spoke, CJ was offered a full-time teaching position at Decker Middle School in Manor, Texas, close to Austin. He'll begin in August - almost a year to date after Hurricane Harvey struck Houston.
What has your job search experience been like, and what advice or questions do you have? Let us know your story!