New Choir Teacher Linda Sorenson returns to Thomas Jefferson in hopes of instilling a love of music that will last a lifetime in her students.
After seven years, choir teacher Linda Sorenson returns to Thomas Jefferson High School with the same love of music she had when she left.
Sorenson began teaching at TJ in 1996 as the choir teacher. Her leaving in 2004 resulted from the reduction of music classes. She moved to North High School where there was an opening in the music department, and she became their choir teacher. “No matter where I taught, I always wanted to teach choir or music,” says Sorenson, who stayed in Viking territory for seven years until she decided to pack up and return to TJ, following former choir teacher, Edwina Hebert, who left to further her education.
Sorenson’s wish was to return to TJ. “I always wanted to come back and be a Spartan again,” Sorenson says, and she got her wish when she met with Principal Sandra Just. “When I heard there was an opening, I knew it was time to return to the school, and I was very excited.”
Looking back on her teaching career, after getting her first musical teaching job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sorenson taught general music at an elementary school, where she remained for seven years. All in all, Sorenson taught Elementary-level general music for 12 years. In 1977, Sorenson moved to the Centennial State. “A friend of mine wanted me to work in rural Colorado, where he was a superintendent.” She later taught general music and choir at Martin Luther King and Hamilton Middle Schools for nine years, and then moved into the high school spotlight.
Although she enjoys teaching at all grade levels, Sorenson has a special love for high school. “High school students understand music more because they are deciding what they want to do in their future. Other levels are great, but they are not yet looking for a career or hobby in music like kids in high school are doing,” Sorenson said.
At an early age, Sorenson began singing. “When I was nine years old, my parents surprised me with a piano,” Sorenson recalls. She says the piano marked the beginning of a love of music in her young life. “Just last month, that piano was moved from Minnesota to Colorado. It was very exciting for me.”
Before working with kids in schools, Sorenson graduated from Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska in 1970. She majored in Elementary Education and Music and minored in Speech and Drama. She later moved to White Water, Wisconsin, where she attended the University of Wisconsin. In 1983, she received her Master’s Degree in Professional Development with a Kodaly’ Emphasis. “A Kodaly’ Emphasis is a method of teaching,” Sorenson clarifies. After, she gained her Doctorate Degree in Educational Administration in 2009 at the University of Denver.
Now at TJ, Sorenson is teaching five classes. She conducts the Women’s Choir, Men’s Choir, Advanced Choir, and Monticello Choir, and is the instructor for Advanced Placement Music Theory. “The best part of my job is teaching lots of different choirs. We have enough men for the Men’s Choir, and we have enough women for the Women’s Choir. Each have their own songs and their own special characteristic to make singing fun,” said Sorenson, who will also be teaching all of the vocals for TJ’s spring musical, Little Shop of Horrors, which will make its début in March 2012.
According to Junior Ashley Fulkerson, a member of the Advanced Choir, Sorenson allows the students more options on which songs they would like to sing, and is always open to opinions. “She is also very positive. Even if we don’t sing well, she always says ‘good job’ and encourages us to do our best,” Fulkerson explains. Sorenson says she enjoys every minute she spends with her students. “One of my goals is to just have fun with the kids. That’s a pretty big thing for me,” Sorenson states.
Sorenson works well with her students, and they notice her diligent work. “She works really hard and she cares a lot about music in general. She has put a lot of vocal structure into the program,” Junior Allie Cornell, a student of Sorenson’s, said.
Fulkerson says Sorenson has a good relationship with her students. “Not only is she a great teacher, but she is also a friend to her students,” she says. “She acts like a kid, but she knows when to act like an adult. She is fun, silly, and serious all at the same time. She knows when to get down to business.”
Sorenson’s advice to other singers is to just be the best you can be. “Keep striving to do your best and work on your craft to develop your voice. If you keep singing, that is the best way to improve your craft,” Sorenson says with a smile.
