By Daisy Morales, Social Media Editor

A typical band student can play one instrument. Some can play two and every once in a while a superb student might learn to play three or four. But what about a student who can play eight instruments and on top of that be a teacher?

Sounds impossible. Until you meet Sydney Guns. 

The senior’s abilities as a student extend far beyond an academic perspective. Guns can do a variety of things when it comes to music. She can play flute, piccolo, bass trombone, regular tenor trombone, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano and cello. Plus, she is one of the drum majors for the marching band.

What else can this fantastic student do?

“Sydney is currently teaching all of the seventh-grade band by herself with my assistance,” band director Robert Lamberg explained. “We both go every day and co-teach the sixth-grade band, and a couple times a week we co-teach eighth-graders as well.”

Guns is getting this early introduction to classroom teaching because former high school band director Bob Ebert left this summer, with Lamberg replacing him at the high school.

“I have an internship with him (Lamberg) and he reached out to Mrs. (Diane) Childress because they still don’t have a band director over there and wondered if I could go over as an intern, and teach seventh grade alone and then sixth grade with him,” Guns explained. “Ms. Childress said yes and I got approval from Mr. (Chuck) Lansing and then the next day we went over.”

But it wasn’t that long ago that Guns herself attended middle school. So what do those students think of her?

“Everybody treats me as a real teacher,” Guns said. “They like to have fun, though sometimes they forget I’m in high school and so I know all their TikTok trends that they’re doing in my class.” 

Guns teaches around 10-15 sixth-graders and seven seventh-graders. Because of COVID, many middle schoolers have had difficulty with learning how to play an instrument.

“The seventh-graders never got a sixth-grade year, so we have to spend a lot of time with the basics,” Guns said. “It is hard on all the middle schoolers because we have to social distance and I cannot get super close to them to show them important skills.”

Despite the challenges for these new music students, Guns and Lamberg have both started planning for a holiday concert, and Guns said the sixth-graders are doing especially well learning how to play their instruments.

Certainly, they have a teacher who can relate. Guns has been a music student since a very young age. 

“I started working with Andrew Sanchez, who’s a First Flight graduate, when I was 10 years old,” Guns said. “I had been playing piano when I was 5 and then I picked flute in sixth grade and I’ve stuck with it ever since.”

Guns explained that it was when taking lessons from Sanchez that she discovered her passion for music. Currently, Guns is taking orchestra, honors jazz band, percussion ensemble and honors marching band. 

Managing her time between being a teacher and a student just takes organization and planning. 

“They kind of go hand-in-hand. Since I’m a drum major at the high school, I kind of do similar things over there,” Guns said. “It’s just mastering time management, and also making sure that we have lesson plans so that we know exactly what to do each day.”

Guns added that teaching music right now could help her later in life when she is trying to become a teacher. Her goal is to major in music education and flute performance on her way to becoming a high school band director.

So far, Lamberg has been impressed with the way Guns has improved in the classroom week after week.

“It gives me a good foundation,” she said of the internship. “Teaching people how to play instruments and then learning myself how to play instruments that I don’t already play is really good. It also teaches me basic fundamentals that I sometimes overlook, like counting and sight reading.”

Guns added that music has always been her favorite and that band class has left her with many incredible memories that she wants others to experience. Despite long hours in August at band camp and extra rehearsals every Tuesday and Thursday night during football season, the band constantly brings joy into her life.

“We are really just like a big family in there and so everybody looks out for each other,” Guns said. “Almost every day, something super funny happens and everyone enjoys every second of it. We are constantly laughing about something, but we do get serious when we need to.” 

 After missing out on many of those fun moments last year during the shortened marching season in February and March, Guns has worked hard to make sure her senior season is one to remember.

 “Since day one, she has come in determined to make this her best year,” Lamberg said. “Her help is one of the things helping the band achieve the success we are having this year.” 

As both a student and a teacher, Guns gives her full potential when it comes to music. 

“I just love music, and I want everybody else to love music just as much,” Guns said. 

Junior Daisy Morales can be reached at 23moralesda04@daretolearn.org.