During the holiday season, one of Annie Ray’s students left a note on her desk at Annandale High School.
He started to apologize, saying it wasn’t much, but was a token of his appreciation. The Fairfax County student’s gesture, though, turned out to be one of the best gifts Ray said she has ever received.
It was a note that said, “Thank you for giving me my life’s purpose,” and it came from a student who’s now pursuing a career in music education. It’s framed and sits in Ray’s home office, and it’s not the first note of its kind she’s received.
In fact, she has a box full of them, which she said she periodically revisits.
Ray’s students look forward to her class, and her classroom is one students stop by, even if they’re not scheduled to be there. That admiration prompted a few of them to complete the video application for the 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator award for her.
At the time, she was pregnant and had recurring illnesses, so the students took matters into their own hands. Their efforts were rewarded.
Ray, the school’s orchestra director and performing arts department chair, ended up winning the honor.
On Sunday, Ray attended the Grammy Awards Show in Los Angeles. She spoke to Meryl Streep, who told her a music teacher inspired her. She took a picture with Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, and Oprah asked her many questions.
“The physical award wasn’t the big moment for me,” Ray said Tuesday, her first day back at Annandale since receiving the award. “Getting the chance to then share with everyone why it was given to us, that was the highlight.”
During the 2020-21 school year, Ray invited some of the few students who had returned to in-person learning to “make some music with me.” One of the students, Kevin, started to cry as he played. That moment, Ray said, prompted her to launch the Crescendo Orchestra for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
She also teaches beginner and advanced ensembles and strives to have her students get comfortable feeling vulnerable.
“The discomfort of not being good at something right away is terrifying to teenagers, and especially to do it so loudly,” Ray said. “And to just go through that, there’s no other way to replicate it.”
Returning to Annandale’s campus was cathartic, Ray said, after a weekend surrounded by celebrities.
“It feels like slipping on a comfortable pair of slippers, and doing what I do,” she said. “I truly, genuinely love this.”
During sixth period Tuesday, Ray paid careful attention to detail, insisting her students restart if something didn’t sound right. She celebrated solos, and tossed Jolly Ranchers around the room.
Ray tells jokes and can be goofy, and sometimes her students tell her she’s unhinged. That’s part of her plan — she wants them to feel safe when they walk in.
“I want them to feel like the rest of the world has kind of melted away, and we’re having our own little ecosystem, our own little universe in an orchestra,” Ray said, “a place where they can come and belong.”
Ray has achieved that, senior Marc Akl said.
“Even people who aren’t in orchestra just feel welcome here,” Akl said. “It’s like we’re in the school, but we’re not. This is its own kind of room, apart from all the core classes and everything else we have going on.”
Ray’s award is still in its box on her desk in the classroom’s office. Now, she’s back to empowering students.
“If I make an impact on one student, I’ve done my job,” Ray said.
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