SAN ANTONIO — If anyone knows how to set the bar high, it’s Jennifer Perelstein. Her students at North East ISD’s Nimitz Middle School sing her praises.
The choir teacher won our EXCEL Award. KENS 5 Anchor Sarah Forgany, along with our partner Credit Human, surprised her in the classroom with a $1,000 check. Forgany explains why Perelstein is a woman of many talents.
“I personally like the way it feels to sing, it physically feels great to me,” Jennifer Perelstein said, as she sat in front of her piano in a large classroom packed with middle schoolers.
For as long as she can remember, music has been a part of her life. Perelstein took us down memory lane where a 1981 newspaper clipping, captured a candid moment of a then 11-year-old Perelstein belting out her rendition of Follow Me, a path she followed for years. She even rocked it out with the rock band Boxx House throughout her college years.
“I was in choir, and I was in theater.”
Call it foreshadowing. Perelstein still puts on a show these days, only now, the stage is her classroom and her audience are Nimitz middle school students. “I love music, I love all kinds of music and people know that about me." However, people may be surprised to learn her music crescendo didn’t play out until much later life.
"I went back to school at the age of 45 and got a degree in music,” Perelstein said.
Soon, she landed her first music job, also marking a first teaching in public schools but the timing was interesting.
“COVID hit,” Perelstein said. Soon after, she found herself on Zoom instead of a classroom but she played her lack of teaching experience to her advantage. She said while other educators were trying to figure out the virtual world with an existing curriculum, she was still learning the ropes of teaching and building a curriculum from the ground up, so she was open to experimenting. "I was a little more fearless because I didn't know how to do it.”
Fine tuning as she taught, Perelstein conducted her classroom to the beat of her own drum. “Teaching is an art,” she said. “It's a ship that has to be turned around on an hourly basis.”
On some days, she would turn to the traditional classic curriculum like how to read music and vocal warmups but on other days, she took a more modern tone where they just let loose. “Oh, karaoke Friday,” an excited Perelstein said. “It was the best thing I ever did for my program.”
Students like James O’Cana said he loves those days because he can be himself in a judgement free zone. “I get to express myself in ways I wouldn't be able to do in other classes because people would probably make fun me.”
But in Perelstein’s class, it’s a welcomed feeling.
"I love what they pick,” Perelstein added. She said, "that she can often tell their good days from their bad days just by their choice of karaoke song. It’s a real window into who they are and what they like, what they're feeling that day. It taught me how to empathize.”
Her compassion strikes a chord with kids and even helps them open up about topics considered taboo among many students. She said their deep conversations are revealing. One day she asked her class this question “What do you think is the biggest problem facing this campus right now,” Perelstein added. Their answer was eye opening. “They said, oh, mental health.”
That’s when she made her next pitch to the class. Stickers, pins and stress balls with the suicide hotline number printed on them, became their team community service project. Ironically the day the project rolled out, “was the day that the Uvalde school shooting happened,” Perelstein said as she tried holding back tears, “and I apologize for getting emotional.”
Perelstein said students felt even more empowered to do something and began using their voices beyond song, to spread the word.
“The students were quick to tell everyone, maybe you don't need this, but somebody you know might need one,” Perelstein said referring to the stickers, adding she was surprised the students even pivoted on their own as a group to cope. “They approached it like it was a celebration of taking care of yourself.”
Caring, healing and harmony seem to be at the core of Perelstein’s every musical choice. Behind each piece, is an important lesson she said.
“You become more aware of the world around you, and how do you fit into it and are you going to change it in any way?.”
This is the KENS 5 EXCEL Awards 25th years partnering with Credit Human to honor local teachers. If you’d like to watch past winners, click on kens5.com/EXCEL.