During the month of October, Creekland orchestra students faced a bittersweet goodbye as their Orchestra director, Ryan Robertson, stepped down to take up the Assistant Principal position at Shiloh High School. Mr. Robertson is well known and well-loved in the Collins Hill cluster orchestra community.
A few Creekland students shared their favorite moments with their orchestra instructor. Eighth grader Lan Nguyen said, “My favorite memory with him was when our class was feeling down because we didn’t know our songs. Mr. Robertson cheered us up by telling us that he’s proud that we’re working hard and he knows that we’ll always do well in the future.” She went on to say that he was always available to help students and wanted them to feel comfortable asking.
Student Sebastian Domeier recounted his daily routine of “high fiving him when I saw him,” and continued on by saying that seeing Mr. Roberston made his day. According to Sebastian he was “the type of teacher that liked to get to know his kids, not only teach them.”
Mr. Robertson said that the best thing about being an orchestra director, “is having the privilege to work with students for three years.” He mentioned that many orchestra directors gauge success of their students on the difficulty of the music rather than the community surrounding an orchestra class. He was proud to say that his classrooms had become more of a fine arts “family” than just a class to sit in for an hour each day.
Ms. Riquelme, the orchestra instructor at Collins Hill High School, spoke highly of Mr. Robertson in regards to his talent with teaching his middle schoolers. She said that, “The high expectations set at Creekland Middle School have directly benefitted the Collins Hill orchestra. Mr. Robertson’s hard work is a large reason why our orchestra program is successful.”
Mr. Robertson will sincerely miss the Collins Hill community. He stated that “Creekland will always have a special place in my heart.” All of the orchestra students and faculty from the Collins Hill cluster wish Mr. Robertson the very best with his future as the Shiloh Assistant Principal.
