With the new school year underway this fall, Heritage High School welcomes two new teachers, Mr. Evan Allenson and Mrs. Grace Dougherty to the music department.
Allenson grew up in Louisville, CO, just outside of Boulder. He went to Monarch High School and later graduated from CU Boulder and is now working on a Master’s Degree from Colorado State University. Multiple of his own teachers inspired him to become a teacher, both teachers he liked and didn’t.
“I really liked my middle school band director,” says Allenson. However, he says, “My high school band director was totally different, part of me hated what he did as a teacher, so I became a teacher in spite of him, which is what I originally told myself. I’ve come to realize even though he was strict, it was what I needed to become a good musician. I hope to do that for my students even if they don’t like what I’m doing.” Allenson believes, “We should be learning how to be better people, and music is the best way I know how to teach that.”
Allenson’s favorite class to teach is Symphonic Band. He enjoys the level that he and his students are at. He says they challenge one another and it creates a very fun environment. He enjoys conducting and creating “tension and release moments, which mimic life.”
Along with Allenson joining the community, Heritage also welcomes Dougherty. Dougherty grew up in Idaho and spent all of her life there before moving to Colorado and attending MSU Denver. Dougherty decided she wanted to become a teacher in middle school. Despite not always liking teachers, she loved the community she experienced and loves being a part of it now. “When you’re in a group of people, there’s nothing that compares to it. I like the community of learning something and hearing finished project,” says Dougherty.
Dougherty is particularly passionate about learning new things and teaching new things to others. “My biggest philosophy behind teaching is that there is so much to learn and it’s never possible to learn everything, so learn what you’re interested in and let it take you places. And don’t stop from learning new things.”
Dougherty’s favorite class to teach is Concert Choir. It is the community part of teaching she loves, the energy of the students in that class is her favorite part. “Music is something you can’t replicate in any other art form, it’s something you have to be in the moment for. The moment part is a big thing. I have a hard time stopping and taking in moments and I think that that is something I really value when I’m doing music,” says Dougherty.
Both Allenson and Dougherty are passionate about music and are bringing new energy to the community. The school excitedly invites them into the Heritage community and can’t wait to learn more about them.