Simply put, Jennifer Antonetti is an organizational guru. She balances working with more than 250 students every day at three schools where she has significantly grown the music programs — doubling enrollment at Robinson Middle School and tripling it at Meadows Elementary. She actively includes and commissions music from under-represented cultures and shows students where the music originated from on world maps that she has posted in the music room. She also uses science and props to teach students how their breathing and body affect sound production on their instruments.

Because of her heavy workload, Antonetti created a way to keep herself organized, which she and her husband developed into a software application tool called BatonSync (read the article about how Antonetti created BatonSync). The software currently has subscribers in 15 states and helps music educators keep track of instrument, uniforms and equipment inventories, as well as student information, finances and more. “We have created a tool for music teachers of all disciplines to be successful,” she said. “We are building a community of music teachers and helping the profession as a whole with our intuitive and innovative software application.”

Another passion project for Antonetti is starting a Kansas chapter of Women’s Band Director International, which will fall under the umbrella of the Kansas Bandmasters Association. 

But at her core, Antonetti is a music educator. “My favorite thing about teaching is that I get to teach from 5th to 12th grade,” she said. “I love watching the growth process of students from boys and girls to young men and women with their own thoughts and ideas.” 

Read about how Antonetti overcame challenges, obstacles and hurdles to grow the programs at Robinson Middle School and Meadows Elementary.