“Effort and focus are two things we can control,” Enrique Tellez tells his class on a regular basis. The Director of Bands and Orchestras at Butler Middle School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, shows his students that there is a time to play and a time to work. “Ultimately, I hope to teach them how to be excellent at anything they choose to do in their lives. This is what I believe teaching the whole student means.”
Tellez has been able to maintain a healthy enrollment of 300-350 in his music program since 2019, which means he didn’t lose students during the pandemic. He regularly visits feeder schools and organizes instrument petting zoos. “I think of petting zoos as a class on the different families of instruments and how they produce sound,” Tellez says. “I take a day and spend an hour at each of the four feeder schools to teach them and make a short pitch for why they should join my music program.”
He also shares a fun video that he created during the pandemic when he couldn’t visit the feeder schools. Tellez introduces and plays different instruments in the video and puts on some silly skits along with the high school directors, which showcases the strong vertical alignment of the programs from elementary and middle school through high school.
Once students are in the program, Tellez creates a culture and environment of respect, high achievement and kindness. “I believe that every day in the classroom has an effect on recruiting and retention,” Tellez says.
Butler is on a six-by-six block schedule, but only electives have A/B classes. This means that core teachers have the same classes on A and B days. According to Tellez, this scheduling is both fortunate and unfortunate. “Fortunate because I can split up my classes into more individual groups, like beginning woodwinds, brass and percussion, rather than having them all together in one class,” he says. “Unfortunate because I have to juggle prepping for 10 classes and managing 346 students. I’m not complaining because I feel extremely fortunate to be able to split up my classes and have three levels of bands and orchestras, but I won’t lie, it is a lot of work.”
On top of his work at Butler Middle School, Tellez is also one of three directors who conduct the Canyons Youth Symphony, a district-wide youth group that has four performances each season, including a collaboration concert with a local adult ensemble. Auditions for the symphony are held once a year for students in 4th to 9th grades and rehearse once a week after school.
He is also President of Salt Lake Symphonic Winds, a local nonprofit dedicated to enriching the community with high-quality wind music. “We proudly present five free concerts each season, showcasing the finest in wind music,” Tellez says. “Additionally, we conduct two annual school outreach concerts, where our ensemble members offer clinics to students. These initiatives support our mission to provide educational experiences and exceptional music at no cost.”
Tellez’s mindset of “the grass is green where you make it” means having realistic expectations for what you have in front of you. “These students deserve the best I can give them. I’m committed to giving them my best effort and focus,” he says.
