For choir teacher Mrs. Linda Campbell, teaching is a family matter. Having a grandpa who was a Fairfax County principal, she was inspired to work in education. However, the idea of teaching didn’t immediately click with her, and neither did music. While Mrs. Campbell has always had a passion for music, she didn’t have that same natural musical ability which other kids around her seemed to have. 

“I had to work 10 times harder than the people next to me… I’ve gained a lot of skills to help people in the same position and bring others up, and here I am with a master’s degree in music.” Campbell said. Mrs. Campbell is also experienced in a wide variety of choir positions and music subjects. She sang alto in her high school choir, but upon going to college switched to singing soprano based on a professor’s recommendation. Across her career, she has taught choir, special education music, and AP music theory. 

Mrs. Campbell has been teaching at West Po for 5 years, and has been teaching for 12 years in total. Before West Po, she taught at Bonnie Brae Elementary School, and taught at Groveton for 5 years as well. Some of her unique memories as a teacher actually came from Groveton: “This mouse went on my wall up and over my board and it hung out on my wall for 10 solid minutes… and I had first graders in my room so they were freaking out about this mouse. It finally went over my board and did acrobatics jumping off of my desk… the custodian had to go back there and get it.”

Mrs. Campbell’s favorite part of teaching choir is the tight-knit community that comes with it. “You walk into choir class and you walk into a family that you know,” said Campbell. “We go to bat for each other… we support each other even if we’re going through tough times.” 

Teaching choir can get overwhelming though. Mrs. Campbell compared being head of the choir department to juggling a billion different things, and stated that all of the advance planning involved with her job frequently takes her out of the present moment. “Today in Bella Voce (a section of the choir), we just talked about caroling for the holidays in September… I can’t really be in the now all the time. The hardest thing is juggling all of it, and then making sure I’m being clear to students as well,” said Campbell. 

As for her personal music taste, Mrs. Campbell is currently a big fan of Lizzo. Being a choir teacher, she has grown to see value in every musical genre, but still can’t fully get behind death metal. Outside of music, Mrs. Campbell enjoys hiking with her husband, her two daughters, and her chocolate lab. She actually teaches part-time this year in order to have more time for family. 

Mrs. Campbell is currently hard at work preparing the choir for a host of events, including their first concert of the year on Wednesday, October 19. You can also find them performing “The Star Spangled Banner” at all the upcoming home football games left this season.