May 12, 2023

In the public eye: WMS music teacher inspires student creativity

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce


If music is the universal language of mankind, Morgan Riley is inspiring a new generation of creativity and expression in her students.

Morgan Riley is in her 16th year as a music
teacher for RSU 14 and this is her seventh year
of teaching band and orchestra at Windham
Middle School.  
PHOTO BY MEG HATCH PHOTOGRAPHY
 
Riley is an instrumental music teacher for Grades 6 to 8 at Windham Middle School and teaches band and orchestra there, as well as offering small group lessons for students just learning how to play a musical instrument. This is her 16th year as a music teacher for RSU 14 and her seventh year at Windham Middle School.

“I was hired at Jordan-Small Middle School for Grade 5 to 8 band, chorus, guitar, piano and general music teacher in the fall of 2006,” Riley said. “In 2015 and 2016, I taught band at WMS, JSMS and Manchester Elementary. Since that time. I have been at Windham Middle School teaching band and orchestra, and for several years, WMS chorus as well.”

Each year, Riley leads WMS music students as they put on two orchestra and two band concerts and in June, she will direct WMS seventh and eighth graders as they perform for a rating in the Great East Music Festival in New Hampshire.

For Riley, seeing her students succeed matters.

“The best thing about my job is the satisfaction and joy of guiding student musicians through the process of trying something new, getting frustrated, persevering and eventually feeling their success as musicians,” she said. “Also, having students tell me that they feel they belong in my classroom, when middle school can be so difficult socially. We truly have a ‘team’ mentality in our ensembles.”

According to Riley, the most challenging aspect of her work is that WMS only has a small inventory of school-owned instruments for students unable to rent or buy their own instruments.

“The single most frustrating part of my job is telling a student that we don't have an instrument for them because the instruments are all spoken for,” she said. “For anyone who has a band or orchestra instrument in good working condition, we are always taking donations.”

Born in New Hampshire, Riley grew up in the mid-coast town of Stockton Springs in Maine. She graduated from Searsport District High School and then earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Southern Maine.

“During high school, I auditioned for the Maine All State Band/Orchestra and got in all four years, getting the top score in the state on flute during my Junior and Senior years,” Riley said. “After an audition, USM awarded me a music talent scholarship, which paid for half of my tuition for all four years of college.”

During her Senior year of college, she did her student teaching at Scarborough High School with Renee Richardson and at Saco Middle School with Nicole Wise. Riley said the skills she learned from those mentors have continued to serve her well and she now serves as a mentor teacher for up-and-coming USM seniors.

She first joined the staff at WMS while she was teaching at Jordan-Small Middle School.

“I was working at Jordan-Small and the band teacher at WMS was retiring. Randy Crockett, JSMS principal at that time and a former music educator himself, advocated for me to teach band at WMS and at Manchester School, as well as JSMS,” Riley said. “He saw the great opportunity, pushed me to make the change, and I am thankful.”

Besides teaching music at WMS, Riley has served as the manager for the Maine Music Educators District 2 Honors Music Choral, Instrumental, and Elementary Festivals numerous times, helping to select conductors, music, and organizing the events. She said these festivals enable our highest achieving students to be a part of a larger ensemble, meet new peers, learn new music, and play under amazing conductors from other areas of Maine and beyond.

Through the years, Riley says that she’s enjoyed her time teaching at WMS.

“There have been many memorable moments, but the one that rises to the top for me was having my eighth-grade band and orchestra perform for the judges at the Great East Music Festival last spring, after COVID had cancelled this festival prior to that,” Riley said. “Both groups earned gold medal plaques. It was a proud moment for us after the band students had a full year of not being able to play wind instruments in school and only play percussion due to COVID concerns.”

She’s grateful that the Windham/Raymond community is incredibly supportive of its students.

“RSU 14 concerts, musicals, and art shows are all well-attended and the students feel that support.” Riley said. <

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