Although school has been taken into the virtual realm for the remainder of the year and social restrictions dictate that citizens get creative with mental and physical exercise, Haddonfield School District music teacher Michael Hecker has plenty to keep his mind occupied.
Hecker is hunkered down at home with his wife and 9-month-old daughter, who makes sure she sets the pace for mom and dad every day.
“She’s pretty good (on sleeping),” he said. “She wakes up maybe once in the middle of the night, then again in the morning, but my wife’s been great. She lets me sleep so I can do office hours when I get up in the morning.”
Hecker’s influence is felt across schools in the district, and as such, his days at home aren’t much different from those on campus.
“I’m the general music teacher for grades one and two, and I also teach third grade at Tatem,” he revealed. “Then I’m the band director for fourth and fifth grades and I also do the middle school and high school and jazz band. All told, I have 500 to 600 kids under my watch.
“My schedule now is, I wake up at 7:30 a.m. — not by choice, it’s because of my daughter,’ Hecker added. “Then, my office hours are from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and I also post a joke of the day and a song of the day on social media.”
After that, Hecker said, his computer is never far away. He’s quick to provide advice, critique, instruct and give a boost of confidence to students and parents alike via the now-ubiquitous Zoom conference.
“The kids have been great, they’ve really stepped up. Students will send me videos of them playing their song, or ask me something they have an issue with, and I respond back through email to have a Zoom lesson,” he said. “I want to give the kids as many options as possible because I know they have enough on their plate with core subjects.”
Speaking of videos, Hecker was also seen on camera through social media in the early days of the shutdown, dancing to a song or two. Flush with stardom, he’s decided to expand his reach.
“Carrington Thompson (district orchestra teacher) actually was the one who started the dancing videos,” he acknowledged. “I don’t know if you saw my own video, but I took the words to ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’ and changed it around to ‘Quarantined in Haddonfield’ and I got the teachers to give me pictures of students working at home, and it all came out pretty neat. I’m not a lyricist either, and the kids dug it too.”
Although his days are full with responsibilities of home and school, and technology offers greater connection, Hecker still acknowledged that he misses his kids.
“Definitely. I couldn’t imagine if we didn’t have Zoom, what we’d be going through. It helps me see that joy when they get the guitar lick right or the notes right on the sax,” he noted.
“It definitely does not replace that mentality where you can compliment the students and be right there in the room with them. If a kid has a bad math class or someone is having a bad day, when we’re all together I can build them up and get them rocking.
“That human interaction is key.”
To check out Hecker’s take on the Jimmy Buffett classic, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EZfm-22ySA.
To see his joke and song of the day, visit his twitter account: https://twitter.com/MrHeckersMusic.
