Giving children the chance to express themselves through their passions is what development is all about. That’s the objective that Alex Drakulich lives by as he works to create a crescendo of progress for students through music education.
Drakulich grew up in Crown Point. Throughout his childhood, he always had a love and passion for music. This included singing, song writing and playing instruments such as the ukulele, piano or guitar. His love was so strong that he decided to dive into music education. He furthered his studies at Ball State University, from which he graduated in 2022.
“My classes and experiences with music just helped me develop a broad spectrum of musical taste,” Drakulich said. “Being able to learn how to produce music was really awesome.”
These skills are still being applied by Drakulich in his career today as the music teacher at Winfield Elementary School, where he won the Teacher of the Year Award in 2022. After being exposed to music on so many levels from the lens of different instruments, Drakulich has been able to identify how it has shaped his life.
“I’m in this environment for more than 50 hours a week and still enjoy every part of it,” Drakulich said. “I think the best part is being able to share it with other people, especially children. There are some students who do guitar lessons on a regular basis that I think, in a few years, are going to be better than me. It’s really rewarding and great for the growth of music.”
As an elementary teacher, Drakulich is always finding ways to incorporate fun experiences for the children, such as teaching them about musicians such as the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Dolly Parton. He notes a moment during one of the medleys of "Hey Jude" in his class where his students sing a part of a song from their musician of the month.
“I remember one time when our first grade class was performing their medley,” Drakulich said. “Their audience was the second grade class. Once they reached the end of the song, all the second grade students joined in on the singing as well. It was a thunderous moment, and I loved it. That might be the best moment of my career so far.”
Building a sense of community through shared memories and experiences has always been at the forefront for Drakulich when it comes to music. Not only does he consider music therapeutic, he also sees its ability to enrich lives.
Drakulich is a great example of his own words in this case. During high school, he had no idea what trajectory his career was going to follow. However, he’s very thankful that he invested in music education.
“For a while, I always considered music to be a passionate hobby for me,” Drakulich said. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to fully invest into it. As I was nearing the end of high school, I realized that I had to do something with music. There was a part of me that was nervous about taking a risk on it, but I had to do it and I’m extremely glad that I did.”
When it comes to the message he wants to convey toward his students, Drakulich does not want to urge students to become musicians or teachers. Rather, he wants them to express themselves and enjoy what they do.
“I try to be very open-minded with them,” Drakulich said. “Whatever they’re passionate about is going to be accepted. That can definitely go into their music tastes, and I try to express that for those interested in that field. Not every student is the same, so my goal is to make my lessons engaging for everybody to appreciate.”
While Drakulich is still early in his career, he plans to continue helping develop educational opportunities for the youth. He’s very attentive to the contrasting standard of music education for children and tries to create fun classroom activities to help limit these deficiencies.