Jessica Corry is an accomplished music educator with over a decade of experience in diverse educational settings. As she enters her twelfth year of teaching, she has worked in two distinct school districts and three different school buildings. Jessica embarked on her teaching career in a rural town with a population of under one thousand, instructing band, choir, and general music across all K–12 grades. Following this, she moved to Oswego, Illinois—a town home to over thirty thousand people—where she has held positions in schools with a wide range of demographics and needs.

Currently, Jessica is employed at a Title 1 school in Oswego, serving a student body of around 750. This institution supports a considerable portion of low-income students, with an ethnic distribution of white and Hispanic attendees. Furthermore, the school facilitates the district’s English Language Learners and dual-language programs, providing Jessica with a profound insight into the intricate challenges many families encounter.

Jessica endorses a teaching philosophy grounded in fostering a “band family culture.” This approach encourages students to support one another while integrating their real-life experiences into the educational environment. Her adaptive teaching methods, tailored to meet her students’ specific needs, have endeared her to her current school community.

Professionally, Jessica has made significant strides, including a tenure at Traughber Junior High in Oswego and the privilege of conducting at the prestigious Symphony Center in Chicago. In an exciting forthcoming venture in 2024, she will direct the Plank Junior High School Eighth-Grade Band in a performance at the Illinois Music Education Conference in Peoria, Illinois.

With a fervent desire to guide young educators, Jessica is devoted to elucidating the complexities and hurdles of contemporary teaching through this book. She aims to impart practical advice and viable solutions to smoothen the path in difficult teaching environments; Jessica aspires to facilitate a more manageable learning trajectory for budding educators by providing strategies she wished were accessible during her initial years of teaching.

Jessica holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After five years in the profession, she pursued a Master’s in Music Education through the American Band College, affiliated with Central Washington University. This educational journey has fostered connections with educators nationwide, enhancing her perspective and approach in the educational realm.