Music teacher named Hopkins Teacher of the Year
June 1, 2016
“Teachers don’t come any more dedicated than Chris Olson,” said Ryan LaDage, principal at Ellen Hopkins Elementary School.
Olson, a music teacher at Hopkins Elementary and this year’s Hopkins Teacher of the Year, puts in many more hours than expected to provide creative, worthwhile, and engaging lessons for his students, LaDage said.
“The experiences that they encounter while working with Mr. Olson are things they’ll remember for their entire life, and the lessons they take from him will benefit them for years to come,” he said.
Olson earned his bachelor’s degree from Concordia College and began teaching elementary music, gifted and talented, computer keyboarding and middle school choir in Melrose, Minn. After two years in Melrose, Olson took a position with Moorhead Area Public Schools to teach fifth- and sixth-grade general music at Robert Asp. He also led the Robert Asp Showstoppers Choir for six years.
In 2005 Olson moved to Ellen Hopkins Elementary where he has taught general music for 11 years. In 2006, Olson and colleague Joan Degerness began the Ellen Hopkins after-school musical. Olson also is a magician, which he said comes in handy when students need extra motivation, and he works with various middle school and high school theater programs in the Fargo-Moorhead area as a scenic designer.
According to LaDage, Olson is active in events and decision making around the school.
“He is a member of our PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) team and works diligently at developing new and outside-the-box ideas to support student and teacher success,” LaDage said. “He researches the things that work at other schools around the country, brings them to the team, and asks ‘Why can’t we do this too?’ This growth mindset pushes all of us to be better educators and advocates for our students.”
Olson’s parents were both teachers for Moorhead Area Public Schools.
“I grew up watching my parents’ colleagues, admiring the extra work they put in to make kids’ lives better,” he said.
It was his encounter with former Moorhead High teacher Grace Holland who inspired him to be a teacher.
“I wanted to be Mrs. Holland — inspiring students and showing them how to be the best they could be,” Olson said.
Olson believes every student has talent that needs to be shared, either on a stage or behind the scenes.
“I teach music, not to make professional musicians, but rather so students will be human, so they will recognize beauty… so they will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good, and in short, more life,” he said.
Photo caption:
Chris Olson, a music teacher at Hopkins Elementary and this year’s Hopkins Teacher of the Year, teaches fourth-grade students finger placement for playing the ukulele.
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