Jared Wilhelm chose to teach first, then chose music. It’s a decision that blesses him and our students at Pius X High School.

Wilhelm, an instrumental music teacher, has been named the winner of the St. John Cantius Award for Secondary Educator of the Year by the Lincoln Diocese, and was honored at the Saints & Scholars Dinner in October. 

What do you love about teaching?

I love watching students learn and improve. Teaching is a great profession because every day is a new puzzle. Finding the right angle to reach every student. Helping student move beyond what they thought they could do is inspiring for me. I often get to work with students for four years and sometimes even more since I work in the elementary schools a bit too. I get to watch students as they grow in confidence and skill over their high school career and that is special.

Why did you get into teaching music, and has it turned out the way you hoped?

I wanted to teach music because of all that I learned and experienced when I was in band growing up. I thought about teaching math and social studies because I enjoyed those subjects too. I always say “I am not a musician that chose to teach, I am a teacher that chose music.” It is a really great subject for kids to learn and benefits them in so many ways. When I was first thinking about being a band teacher I wanted to teach at Pius. When you teach high school band, you go where the job is so that felt like a long shot at the time. In that way, it worked out exactly as I hoped. I don’t think I could have imagined all the various things I do now back then. I really enjoy the program development aspect of my job as well. Making changes that show up in student learning and accomplishment is really rewarding.

How do the students and staff at Pius X inspire you?

I work with an amazing group of teachers. I learn a lot observing their classrooms. It definitely inspires me in my classroom as well. I try to borrow things and adjust them for my classroom. My goal is always to be a bit better teacher today than I was yesterday and many of my co-workers are great examples of that themselves.