Dear Forest Park Faculty and Staff,

It is with great enthusiasm that I present myself for your consideration. My name is Ian Hansen,
and I am thrilled to be entering a profession where I can make a difference . All of my life I
have been surrounded by music. It has empowered me to be a more empathetic, sincere, and
gracious human being; and I believe that I can use those experiences to bring out those qualities
in my students as well. One of the things that excites me the most about my new career is
working with a band. I grew up playing violin, viola, and double bass in symphonic orchestras,
and chamber groups. I was introduced to all the wind instruments while completing my
undergraduate degree at Sonoma State University, and have grown to respect, and appreciate
each family of instrument. After rigorously applying myself to becoming proficient at all of the
band instruments (practicing them all before and after school at my student-teaching site), I can
confidently teach band.
I am finishing my student teaching at a middle school, and am leading a beginning band, and a
beginning guitar class. This has proven to be an excellent starting challenge for me. I have spent
so many years playing music at a semi-professional level, that coming back to a beginner
understanding of music has been a beautiful "re-awakening," for me, and has been great for
building strong and amicable relationships with my students. My students have been a very
diverse group this year in terms of their behavior. Some of them were placed in beginning band
against their will, and admittedly started off the year in a rough way. I have worked incredibly
hard to build rapport with them by encouraging them to try every day, a little bit here, and a little
bit there. It has been inspiring to see students who began the year with no desire to learn an
instrument, slowly get into it. There is nothing better than seeing a troubled kid pick up an
instrument and realize that they are holding true power: The power to change their emotional
state, and to connect with their fellow students in a way that only ensemble music-making can.
I grew up in a small town in Western Washington (Sedro-Woolley), and I have always felt most
comfortable in a low-population area. For the past decade I have been building my small
business from the ground-up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Quite frankly, the big city life is
not to my liking. My family has roots in Michigan, and my wife's family does too, and after
touring the area this January, we both committed to the idea of settling down in a small town.
The reason why, is also the reason why I decided to become a teacher. My High School choir
teacher Mr. Macdonald was a profoundly positive influence on me, and was a highly regarded
member of our community. I want to be that very same positive influence on a community that I
can truly become an integral part of. I hope that this can be your community.

Sincerely,

Ian Hansen - Bachelor of Music, Music Education