The Teacher Who Brought His Guitar

My son's fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Okonkwo, plays guitar for his class every Friday afternoon. He teaches them songs from all over the world: Nigerian highlife, Irish folk songs, a Brazilian samba and, by popular demand, the theme from a cartoon about a dog.

My son, who used to dread school, now counts down the days to Friday. He came home singing a song in Yoruba and taught it to his little sister. He asked for a guitar for his birthday.

At the end of the year, the class put on a concert for the parents. Twenty-four kids singing in five languages, some of them on recorders and tambourines, Mr. Okonkwo strumming and grinning in the middle.

I don't know how teachers do what they do. I just know this one made my kid fall in love with music, and with school. I wrote him a thank-you note. It wasn't enough.