After the leave of the previous orchestra teacher, a new one steps in to fill the place. Alli Howard is Robinson’s new orchestra teacher. She has been teaching for 20 years and is starting to get used to interacting with students in person due to her being online last year.

Howard is very excited to be a part of Robinson. She came from Hillsborough Virtual, teaching for about a year. Howard loved teaching virtually but finds it odd to be seeing students one on one through the computer screen. She enjoys seeing her students face to face, it’s much more fun that way.

Howard’s passion for playing instruments started when she was very young.

When Howard was eight years old, the first instrument she ever played was the violin. She then switched to piano and then the saxophone. In her first-ever teaching job, she taught band and orchestra, which sums up the majority of her career.

Howard has some ideas based on the last year’s teacher’s plans.

She would like to continue with those plans as much as possible while also following COVID guidelines. She hopes that one day they will be able to achieve that goal.

“Last year, nobody got to go to MPA and nobody got to do really ensemble-type stuff because it was just so weird. So I would like us to get back into doing stuff that’s ‘normal,” Howard said. “I would like us to be able to do MPA and do concerts and do ensembles and be relatively successful and enjoy those things.”

Howard acknowledges the fact that her students have had a difficult year so far and promises to be there and do her best to make sure things go smoothly.

“It will get better, I promise, but other than that, this should be fun. If we’re not having fun, then we’re doing it wrong,” Howard said.

Even though she began later on in the semester, Howard has already made a good impression on her students.

“She’s really nice, she’s funny, she jokes around a lot and she already kind of brought us together. I know it’s kind of crazy like switching back in but she’s done a great job adjusting,” Gabriella Trevino (‘24) said.

Another student also agrees with Trevino.

“She’s been good so far, she’s been teaching us the music well,” Joshua Paul Estep (‘24) said.