Erinn Mitchell’s cheerful personality isn’t intimidating. But
when she stands in front of her class, there’s no question she’s in
command. For nearly 45 years, Joe Ostenson was the leader of the
Rancho San Justo and Marguerite Maze Middle School Band. Now, it is
Mitchell’s turn to make her mark.
Erinn Mitchell’s cheerful personality isn’t intimidating. But when she stands in front of her class, there’s no question she’s in command.
When the 28-year-old Mitchell gave orders in class Wednesday afternoon at Rancho San Justo Middle School, the students sat immediately and quieted down. It was the end of class, and slowly, Mitchell told each group of students they could leave. The students were divided into the type of instruments they play. There was no distinct order in which they got dismissed. It was whoever was the quietest. As she put it, it’s an “organized mess.”
Mitchell isn’t new to the school – she has been here for over a year – but standing in front of the band by herself is a new sight for room G-1 at Rancho San Justo Middle School.
For nearly 45 years, Joe Ostenson owned the room as the leader of the Rancho San Justo and Marguerite Maze Middle School Band. The towering educator with a strong passion for music taught middle school students his craft for more than four decades until this fall. His reigns were handed over to Mitchell at the beginning of the school year.
Mitchell grew up in Galt and she always had a soft spot for teaching music.
“I knew in high school this is what I wanted to do – become a music teacher,” she said.
From there she went to the University of California, Davis and the University of Pacific in Stockton to study to become a music teacher. Afterward, she went looking for a middle school music class and came across Hollister.
“The only place was in Hollister, and that just happened to be where my parents just moved to,” she said. “So I moved here.”
For the past year Mitchell served as an understudy of sorts, learning from Ostenson and introducing herself to the kids she would be teaching. And because of that, the transition has been easier than expected.
“It’s been great,” she said. “The kids already knew me because of last year, and for the new ones – I’m new anyway.”
Look for the full story in the Free Lance on Tuesday.
