By Luka Hayes
John Luce is the Solomon vocal teacher and he’s excited to start new projects.
Luce grew up in Payola, Kansas; he threw shot-put and discus during track season in high school. He went to state in choir at an all state bass, “which is kind of funny now,” Luce commented.
He went to Tabor College and got his master’s degree at Friends University. He wanted to be a choir director and teacher because he decided he loved music.
“I don’t ever remember not being interested in music,” Luce explained. “My family is musical, so we were always singing and my oldest brother plays the piano really well, so I decided to go a different route and I sang.”
Luce came to Solomon because it was a crazy last minute job. He has taught in Minneapolis, Concordia, Junction City, and Solomon in Kansas, and then also in Sparks, Nevada. He didn’t plan on teaching, but he is so excited to have the opportunity to be in the classroom again.
“It’s really been fun this year getting back into the classroom and meeting new students, people, and faculty,” he said. “I have some current students that I taught their parents and so now I'm teaching their kids. That’s kind of fun.”
Luce also brings a sense of fun to the building.
“It’s a great pleasure,” said English teacher Chris Delay. “[He brings a] great deal of positivity and care for the students.”
Luce’s goal for his students is to see how far they can go. He’s started to see improvement in his students, and he wants to make more improvements and see the vocal students thrive.
“I try to challenge you guys every day,” he says. “Sometimes the challenge is accepted, and sometimes it's not.”
Luce is not limited in his teaching abilities and takes on both the elementary and high school classes every day. Though he faces challenges with the age groups, he knows he can help all of the groups improve. He knows he’ll have a successful year when he sees such improvement.
“Just by seeing the improvement in the students and hopefully numbers will go up in the junior high school next year because students will want to be in music.”
Editing by Caden Acosta, Perry Steele, and Spencer Coup
Photo by Luka Hayes