This week in Hallway Voices, we learned about the connection between a love of music and better mental health.
We interviewed Breanna Wozniczka, a longtime band director at Hortonville High School. Wozniczka helps lead 200 band students and runs the high school’s Tri-M Music Honor Society, mental health peer support group Sources of Strength and substance abuse prevention group Students with a Purpose.
When she’s not working, she spends time supporting her freshman son’s school activities, meeting with teacher book clubs, and keeping up with her two dogs.
Here’s what else she said.
Tell me about a highlight from band over the past school year.
We actually got back from our annual trip two days ago. We traveled to Nashville, Memphis, and St. Louis, and performed at Graceland and the Country Music Hall of Fame. We did a lot of pep band tunes for the people who were visiting those venues.
[The students] choose to travel with us. We travel every year, and we alternate a longer trip and a shorter trip. And so the kids that want to go get to go.
Why do you think music is important to education?
I truly believe that music and band can give kids opportunities that they can’t get other places. I think that studying music and working hard at something in a group setting can give you life skills that can’t be emulated anywhere else: working in a group, having empathy, putting a lot of practice and hours into something, developing that what’s-best-for-the-group mentality and then cultivating some cooperation skills and then feeling that gratitude and joy.
Do you see a connection between what you do for band and how you support students’ mental health?
I absolutely do. I think sometimes people think it’s interesting when I show up for something for mental health. But as I start talking, they start to see the similarities between the two. I think music contributes to positive mental health, and I’ve seen it over and over with students where they find that music or the band room is that safe place for them.
What instruments do you play, and what do you enjoy about them?
I’m a bass clarinet major. And what I really liked about bass clarinet is that it really is a supporting role in the band. And so it’s not a solo instrument. It’s not a showy instrument, but it’s something that contributes to the group in a big way. So that’s why I chose it. But I do play all the instruments through my degree.
Tell me about one of your favorite books that you’ve read recently.
I finished “The Midnight Library” recently, and it talks about the possibility of reliving your life or making different choices. And I’ve often thought that is a very interesting premise for a book, so I really enjoyed that.
I just think it’s interesting because we don’t get to relive [life.] We don’t get to go back and make different choices, but I think it’s interesting to think about making those different choices and how your life could have ended up. I also think it’s important to make the right choices in the first place or admit fault when you need to, and just really value that one life that you do have.
Rebecca Loroff is an education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. Contact her at rloroff@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Hortonville band teacher talks bass clarinet, books in Hallway Voices
Reporting by Rebecca Loroff, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
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