Playing a New Song at Hoppy High

By Nicole Mitchell

For almost 20 years we have had the same music teacher at Hopkinton High School: Paul Silverman. Students and teachers alike called him by his first name. Kids had inside jokes with him, and everyone loved him. Many were saddened when he decided to retire at the end of last year.

However, the district hired Ms. Bridgett Dornik. She is a graduate of Hartford High School, VT and a college graduate of University of Vermont Montpelier. This is her second job as a high school music teacher. Before this she worked in Vermont and was a music teacher for grades five through twelve, and she also taught band.

She lives right in town with her fiancé and her two new kittens. She loves to play music and run small triathlons in her spare time, but lately she has not had any spare time.

Ms. Dornik told us her high school music teacher, Mr. Gattie, inspired her to become a music teacher. When asked how he did so, she replied, “Because he made the connection between music, emotions, and people…. He taught me that I can make a lot of connections with people through music.”

Ms. Dornik’s musical background is very extensive: she started playing the clarinet in 5^th grade and still plays a little today. She has been singing since 5^th grade as well and stills sings today. When asked what her favorite instrument was she told us the flute, for right now, because it’s an easy instrument to play along with any student. When asked if she could play the piano she said no she couldn’t; however, she was playing in the music room prior to this interview.

When Mr. Kelley was asked why Ms. Dornik was chosen for the job, he answered that he liked her energy, enthusiasm, and experience. He also said she has a natural way of working with students and can easily get them excited about music. He can tell she enjoys working with kids; she goes above and beyond the job requirements to teach kids and to help them in any way she can.

While asking students in the high school about Ms. Dornik, everyone had the same couple reactions, “We have a new music teacher?”, “Who is that?”, “Oh I’ve heard of her, but I haven’t had her as a teacher yet.”, and “I have her as a teacher and she is really cool.” Those who have her agree that the classroom atmosphere is really chill.

One student in her class, Abby Lui said, “She wants to get stuff done, but she does not have a lot of rules. She makes the class fun while we get our work done at the same time. It’s the perfect mix.” Abby also told us that the students have respect for her and can joke with her. She makes the classroom comfortable to be in. Justin Madore, an 8^th grader told us that she is seen as a peer, not a strict teacher and that is a good thing, according to most students.

When asking the students and staff about advice they can give our new music teacher, they came up with this: don’t get too serious and keep the music class fun. Get to know the students more. Improvement comes in time. Get involved, go to athletic games, plays, and get to know students in their own environment. And be willing to compromise, kids are involved with a lot of activities such as sports.