Educator.
Encourager.
Those are just two of the words that describe the Southwest Louisiana native Mickey Smith Jr. In the course of his career, he has grown multiple band programs in Louisiana, Texas and Florida by over 500%, encompassing over half of their school populations. Upon moving to Florida his program had 100% of the school population.
Mickey Smith Jr. teaches band to fourth through eighth grade students at The King’s Academy. There the program has seen increased interest and growth with the new Beginning Band, Intermediate Band, Concert Band and Jr. Jazz Band.
Throughout his nearly two-decade career, he has developed and grown not only band programs, but most importantly, he has helped young people realize what they are capable of through music.
This 7-time Teacher of the Year and GRAMMY Music Educator Award Recipient believes in promoting education and the educators across the globe who make it possible. Smith has shared his unique combination of message and music with thousands of students as a teacher, all-state conductor and clinician. In addition, he has taken his systems of joy for teaching to hundreds of educational conferences, school district meetings and leadership development stages across North America sharing his “Keep On Going” approach.
He has extensive experience teaching in Title I, urban, suburban, rural, public and private schools. Throughout the years, Smith’s classrooms have been filled with students from a variety of backgrounds. There are some who have experienced trauma and adverse circumstances, but they have all been provided with the opportunity to find greater meaning and purpose through music.
His classroom experience encourages students to do more than make music, but also to “discover their personal sound.” In addition to teaching, he empowers educators to build genuine relationships with students in order to discover the unique sound of every child in their class.
Throughout his career, he has experienced firsthand that every child is just one sound adult away from achieving success. Mickey was that very student that benefited because someone believed in who he could be. He believes that modern day teaching is a relationship-based approach, and that more than ever teaching cannot simply be about the subject matter, but also about showing students that they matter.
In his classroom, his mission is to engage, educate and empower every learner to excellence through music, so that every child feels loved, valued and wanted.
Website: https://mickeysmithjr.com
