LYNN — Superintendent of Schools Dr. Molly Cohen was beaming with pride at an Agganis Foundation event when she saw Lynn English students Gavin Colon and Jasmine Bonilla entertain the crowd with a masterful violin performance. As she congratulated them, she said, “You’ll have to teach me the violin someday.”
Colon and Bonilla didn’t forget. Neither did their teacher, Christian Hoschek, or, most importantly, Cohen. So there she was at English, taking time out of an extremely busy end-of-the-school-year schedule, holding the students to their word.
And is she ever glad she did.
“I honestly think it was one of the most enjoyable days I have had as superintendent,” said Cohen, who took over the district on an interim basis last October and was named permanent superintendent on June 11. “The students put together a lesson plan and they delivered the instruction flawlessly. I was so impressed with their ability to share their knowledge and have it make sense for someone who had no idea how to play the violin.”
Colon, who graduated in June, and Bonilla, who is entering her senior year, took the assignment seriously, developing the lesson, practicing it, refining it, and presenting it to Cohen. They rehearsed the lesson the day before with a volunteer student, allowing them to make further improvements. Hoschek said his students managed to cover the first several months of an elementary violin curriculum in 30 minutes.
“Watching them experience the iterative process of lesson planning, collaboration, and peer teaching was incredibly rewarding,” Hoschek said. “In such a short time, they gained firsthand appreciation for the preparation, flexibility, and intentionality that go into creating the high-quality learning experiences they receive every day.”
Colon and Bonilla, who have been playing the violin since the fourth grade, constructed the lesson in stages, first teaching Cohen how to hold the violin and the bow, then learning the strings and notes and culminating in her playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
“I can’t believe I played the whole song,” Cohen exclaimed. “It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be. I’m so happy you made the time to teach me.”
In the end, the veteran educator was proud of the students who switched roles with her.
“You are very good teachers,” she told Colon and Bonilla. “The important part of teaching is giving specific feedback, and very specific direction and instruction in a way that is kind and patient. You guys did a fabulous job.”
For Hoschek, it was gratifying to watch his students transfer their knowledge to someone who came in with no knowledge of the violin.
“The lesson embodied the transformative power of music education, authentic learning experiences, discovery, and the growth that happens when metacognition, collaboration, and the innate heartbeat and expression of humanity that exist within all of us, all intersect,” he told Cohen. “I came away with valuable insights into teaching from watching you work with Gavin and Jasmine.”
