Ryan Boulanger, News Editor
@ryanbcourant
Teachers are some of the most influential adults in a child’s life. From the time a student begins kindergarten to their high school graduation, teachers will have been there to usher them along, helping them to learn, grow, and emerge as successful members of society. For these reasons, teaching is widely regarded as one of the most selfless and noble professions one can enter.
Music technology teacher, Ms. Anna Moody, will be retiring at the end of this year. She began her teaching career in 1980 at Danbury High School as a music teacher. She then made her way to teaching choir at Saxe Middle School in 1987 and began teaching at the High School in 2001. “I had some great teachers in my life, I remember particularly my Music teacher,” Ms. Moody said. “He always told me he thought I would make a great teacher. It was in my blood.”
Music has always been an important part of Ms. Moody’s life. She started piano lessons when she was little and started to realize the importance of music not only in the classroom but also in our everyday lives. “When I first started teaching at Danbury, I came up with a challenge for my students. I told them if they could go 24 hours without listening to any form of music at all, I would give them an A in the class for the rest of the year,” Ms. Moody said.
“None of them were able to do it- you can’t be in a car without music, you can’t watch television, you can’t listen to the radio,” Ms. Moody said. “It’s everywhere, all around us. I also challenged them to watch a film with just closed captions. It’s hard even then because captions only show you what to hear, but music shows you what to feel.”
Ms. Moody has taught many students over the years, many of them going on to become successful musicians. “When I started teaching choir at Saxe, I had so many talented students, Andrew Armstrong being one of them. He went on to become a very famous pianist, and now does many shows at the New Canaan chamber series,” Ms. Moody said.
Harboring the pool of talented students she already had, Ms. Moody was able to establish an ultra-successful choir group at Saxe. “One day I thought to myself, what if I was able to get all of these talented kids in one room together and sing? I then went to my principal at the time and told him I wanted to start a before-school group,” Ms. Moody said.
“He told me I was crazy at first, and that no family would want to bring their kids early to school, but he told me that he would support me and my idea fully,” Ms. Moody said. “It was a huge success, we ended up getting to sing at a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, right in front of all the players, along with many other notable events.”
Ms. Moody believes music to be a form of discovery for her students. “My job is to help students discover what they already have. I want them to gain self-esteem and wellness themselves, and I help them do that through their music and what they create,” Ms. Moody said.
The students that Ms. Moody has taught over the years continue to be a large part of her life. “Teaching is about building personal relationships with students. I helped sponsor a student’s confirmation, and when I got married, my choir sang at my wedding. One of my students was a reader, and another former student was even a soloist,” Ms. Moody said.
Ms. Moody has always viewed New Canaan to be an extraordinarily special place. “When I came to New Canaan in 1987, I remember observing how everyone acted. I was only 27 at the time, but I remember walking in and thinking, wow, these kids are special,” Ms. Moody said. “Just having that aura of being so kind and wonderful, so much to the point that I wanted my future son or daughter to be just like them.”
Ms. Moody accredits her success as a parent to teaching, and even learning from her students in New Canaan. “My daughter McKenna went on to be very successful, she went to Villanova, became an incredible pianist, and even played with Harry Connick Jr. She’s my most amazing accomplishment,” Ms. Moody said. “I would have never raised her the way that I did, and helped her become the person she turned out to be if it wasn’t for my students here in New Canaan.”
Ms. Moody looks forward to spending time with her family and traveling with her dog, who serves as a therapy dog at many hospitals and schools. “I’m going to be spending a lot of time with my daughter, and I will take my dog, a little Irish doodle, around to children’s hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and even other schools. I’ll even take her here during finals for students,” Ms. Moody said.
Teachers may not be remembered by name after they leave, however, their impact on students and staff can be seen for years. “I’ve been here long enough to know that when a teacher walks out of the building, their name fades quickly. But the things that they leave behind are lasting,” Ms. Moody said.
