Married music teachers use old-school rendition to show they miss students

Time away from the classroom isn’t just affecting students. Teachers are feeling the impact as well.

Two music teachers, who are a married couple, have found a creative way to cope with withdrawal from their pupils.

Joe Wilson is music department chair and marching band moderator at Central Catholic High School in Pittburgh. Kerry, his wife, is a music teacher at Hopewell High School in Beaver County. Using their musical prowess, they’ve created a fun project to mark the absence of students in their daily lives.

During the past few weeks, the couple recorded themselves playing 14 different instruments while performing a full marching band rendition — minus the marching — of the Jackson 5’s hit “I Want You Back.”

The couple played the drums, cymbals, trumpet, saxophone, flute, tuba, trombone, tambourine and clarinet, to name a few.

The couple posted the video to YouTube on Friday. The footage is reminiscent of a Zoom conference call, with the exception of seeing the same two people performing various tasks in each block.

The video is prefaced by a written message reminding the students that, despite being at home, Joe and Kerry were still practicing their instruments. That note was followed by the sentiment that music staff from Central Catholic misses their students, of course: “(We) want you back.”

The Wilsons completed this project to practice for future performances that will include students, according to a release from Central Catholic.