Conducted by Faith: Jared Perry Mentors through Music

It was a halftime show at Morgan State University that changed Jared Perry’s trajectory from pursuing music production at Berklee College of Music to forging a path that eventually led to his destined career as band director at Booker T. Washington Middle School for the Arts in West Baltimore. 

In the summer after Jared’s senior year of high school, he and his mom planned to take a drive from Atlanta to Boston to visit Berklee and finalize his freshman housing.  He was thrilled to attend, but the staggering cost of student loans gave him pause.  Along the drive, they decided to stop in Maryland to visit Jared’s sister, who was a Morgan State student at the time.  The band’s halftime performance stopped Jared in his tracks. He had never seen that style of marching before; the music and dancing had him mesmerized. “I saw that show and said, ‘Okay. I can do this.’” 

So began a relationship with Morgan State University that started with Jared’s enrollment into their Honors program that fall, evolved into his serving as the coordinator of that very program for four years upon graduation, and concluded with his attainment of a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in 2013. During his undergraduate years, serving as a tutor to other music majors and working at the Kuumba summer camp on campus revealed his talent for teaching others.  Jared finally heeded the call and began to pursue the education profession more formally. “I said to myself, ‘You want to do music production, but this teaching is in you.  You can’t get away from it.  And people enjoy it!’” 

In late 2012, he conducted a school observation at Booker T. Washington as part of his graduate studies. “I walked out of the building and God was like, ‘You’re going to be here.’” Nervous at first by the challenges that an underperforming school would surely bring, Jared quickly decided that he couldn’t argue with where he was called to be.  Now in his ninth year as band director, Mr. Perry has proven that students whom standardized test data might deem low performing in fact have all of the ability and talent in the world to perform brilliantly.  

While Jared’s YouTube videos of his students playing originally composed music in perfect sync might make the journey look easy, it has been anything but that. One of his earliest challenges came the summer before he was scheduled to begin at Booker T. Washington.  There was one exam that he had to pass in order to become certified in voice, orchestra, band, and general music. Jared missed the passing score on the second exam by just a few points.  His last chance to take the Praxis II before the start of the school year came on an unusual date: the morning of his wedding!  With his future wife’s support and the prayer of his whole family and church family behind him, he passed the test and married his best friend later that afternoon.

Once the school year began, he focused on two key priorities: routines and relationships. “I started with the basics,” Jared shares. Most students didn’t have any prior experience with playing in a band, and even touching the instruments required a set of explicit instructions so Mr. Perry’s expectations were clearly understood.  In collaboration with the students, he created five classroom norms that one of his students hand wrote on a poster; that poster is still displayed on the wall years later.  Mr. Perry’s rules range from respecting the space and one another to reading the daily objective (or as he puts it, “Don’t ask if we’re going to play instruments today!”).  He found that adhering to these norms helped students thrive in his classroom.  Mr. Perry also deeply values relationships, getting to know his students as individuals.  One girl shared that he was like a father figure to her, and subsequently lost her biological father to violence just months later.  “We’re in a rough part of Baltimore,” Jared concedes. “But that means nothing.  Our kids are phenomenal.  They are dealing with so many things, but they also have love in their lives.”

Jared’s own childhood was full of love and music even as his family navigated many life changes over the course of his adolescence. Both of his parents had artistic and musical backgrounds, and he credits his grandmother for introducing him to the piano in third grade with a little Casio keyboard.  He watched his older siblings play tenor sax and cello when they reached middle school, and he chose the trumpet when his time came.  Music followed him through many relocations and life changes over the course of his youth, and he wishes that more families saw value in the subject. “Many parents think music is just an elective class, not realizing all of the scientific research and studies that show increased retention of information and discipline from practicing an instrument.”

In the years preceding COVID-19, Mr. Perry’s students had the opportunity to explore the world beyond their local blocks through music performance.  From the Mayor’s inauguration, to the annual Monument lighting in Mount Vernon Place, to the 15+ additional performances each year, the OrchKids brass band was a sight - and sound - to behold.  Jared credits his partnership with OrchKids, a music education initiative of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, for helping to successfully grow the band program at Booker T. Washington. 

But in March 2020, teachers all over the world found themselves starting from scratch as their students learned from their homes due to the global pandemic.  The pivot was especially dramatic for performing arts teachers.  Fortunately, Mr. Perry always maintained a passion for music production and was able to put his knowledge of tech tools and software to good use.  But before he could teach his young people how to upload their tracks to Soundtrap, he had to make sure they had the necessary equipment at their disposal.  He spent that spring organizing instrument pickup and delivering instruments to kids’ homes as needed. “I remember fixing a flute in my car,” Jared laughs. “We had to be everything: the teachers and the technicians.”

Now that the school is back in person, they are excited to have returned to live performances.  A memorable moment for the school community was this past February when the band played Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” for Black History Month.  The students performed beautifully through their face masks and instrument bell covers that now constitute essential components of concert attire.

Fortunately for the middle schoolers at Booker T. Washington, Mr. Perry intends to stay in his role for the foreseeable future. “My heart is with these kids, so I’m here unless God says otherwise.”  As the Arts team lead at the school, he works closely with the dance, choir, media, and theater teachers to ensure rigorous and meaningful learning for their students.  Mr. Perry’s impact extends even further through his position over the past three years as a fine arts mentor teacher through Baltimore City Schools.  What he loves most in this role is pointing out to new teachers all of the things they’re doing right. “A lot of times teachers don’t realize that their lessons are actually running really well. They just need to tweak small things, and their instruction will go through the roof.” 

While Jared has certainly mastered his rhythm as a classroom teacher and mentor educator, his mother admitted that she once doubted whether teaching was the right career for him.  “She just felt like I’m so creative and spontaneous that it was hard for her to picture the lesson planning and discipline required to be a teacher.”  It is that combination of Jared Perry’s inclination for innovation and commitment to the fundamentals that foster a culture of excellence for his students.  His belief in their limitless potential may be the most important ingredient of all.