Love of music spreads from UNCP to Piney Grove

By Sonia Jackson
Assistant Web Editor

From the outside, this small classroom looks no different from the others, but inside the walls are covered with colorful posters and pictures of music symbols, instruments and composers. Shelves with instruments and books, along with drawers and closets rest against the walls, and in the back are music stands and drums of different sizes.

Photo by Sonia Jackson Syreeta Jackson, UNCP music graduate, teaches music to all grade levels at Piney Grove Elementary School in Lumberton.

In the middle of the room are long, rectangular tables in a “U” shape for her classroom. A small desk sits at the front of the classroom with miscellaneous papers scattered about, surrounding a bold plaque with the words Syreeta Jackson neatly engraved on it.

Just four months ago, Syreeta Jackson, 23, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke with a bachelor of music degrees in music education. Today, she’s a music teacher at Piney Grove Elementary in Lumberton.

Jackson teaches general music, band, orchestra, percussion and chorus for her students and has an opportunity to teach all grade levels at the school.

On the job. Jackson said how there were many things she had to learn through experience that the college classroom didn’t teach her, such as classroom discipline and management.

“If you don’t have discipline or management, you’re going to be screaming the whole time and you won’t be an effective teacher,” Jackson said.

Piney Grove Elementary School helped smooth Jackson’s transition from student to teacher by providing her with a mentor who kept her informed about school meetings, gave valuable tips on classroom management and general knowledge about how an elementary school runs.

Advice. Jackson had advice for those who wished to teach or play music after college.

“Go to class. Do what you’re supposed to in college. Get a degree. Get a job. That’s it,” Jackson said. It’s simple, but practical advice and it worked for Jackson. Piney Grove Elementary had needed a music teacher and when Jackson showed up at the Robeson County job fair with her degree behind her and her resume in front of her, it seemed almost fate when she got a callback from them.

Jackson’s love for music began when she was little. Jackson was born in Fayetteville and being in a military family she has lived in other places including Germany, Japan and Hawaii. One day, her mom brought home a clarinet. At that moment she became interested in music. Although she wasn’t able to play in middle school, once Jackson reached the ninth grade she started playing the clarinet and has been ever since.

At UNCP. While Jackson attended UNCP, she not only played the clarinet, but also was the leader of the woodwind trio, the clarinet quartet and the woodwind quintet. Jackson also had the opportunity to play for weddings, restaurants and at churches during holidays.

Though performing for a living was her dream, Jackson does enjoy teaching and sharing her love of music with the students in her class. She believes it’s easier to teach younger kids because she knows they are learning. What’s more, she’s still able to play her music on the side.