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Maple Grove music teacher John Tyler greets students, ties classroom to community
Summary
John Tyler, music teacher at Maple Grove Elementary in the Cedar Rapids Community School District, says he serves as a daily presence for students at arrival and dismissal and draws on his own CRCSD upbringing in his teaching.
John Tyler, music teacher at Maple Grove Elementary in the Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD), said he often serves as the face students see when they arrive and leave school. “As parents even tell me all the time, I'm the face of the kids see when they get to school a lot of times, and I have that smiling face that welcomes them and greets them and say, mister Fishhorn a lot of times too, off the bus and, you know, we talk to them when they come over to the crosswalk,” Tyler said.
Tyler told listeners his connection to the district dates back to his own childhood in the Jefferson Community School District and that he now teaches music at Maple Grove. “Mister Tyler currently serves as the music teacher at Maple Grove Elementary, the latest chapter in his long journey with CRCSD. His connection to the district dates back to his time as a student at Jackson Elementary,” a staff member said in an introduction.
Why it matters: Tyler’s role extends beyond classroom instruction to daily interactions that shape students’ school experience. That combination of classroom work and visible presence at arrival and dismissal underscores how some elementary teachers operate as both educators and daily community touchpoints for families.
Tyler described his path to becoming a music teacher, saying he initially planned to major in math before switching to music in college after encouragement from a former band director. “When I went to college, I knew that so I was gonna major in math, but then minor in music education...I go that is not at all what I was going to be. Again, a little bit I know 6 months later, I'm laughing at myself because of what he said, and then I'm switching my major to music,” Tyler said. He described music as drawing on many school subjects: “Because when I got to Boris, I just I fell in love with it. It was fun. There's a lot of math in music, but also the other school subjects as well. You have to obviously read. There's science, there's social studies, there's, I mean, everything that they learn in my main classroom.”
Tyler said his passion is most visible at student performances. He described an emotional reaction after concerts and the pride he feels in student growth: “We have 2 concerts usually in a night, and after the first 1 I come upstairs, I just I take some me time to drop my lights, and I'll sometimes bust on and cry, because of how wonderful the students did.... I can't and then I, you know, to have to hold it in for another day to to share with them how well they did and whatnot,” Tyler said.
A staff member who introduced the profile thanked Maple Grove Principal Gable for facilitating the visit and noted the district’s sign-off: “A special thanks to principal Gable of Maple Grove Elementary for giving us the opportunity to see mister Tyler in action. And thank you, mister Tyler, for showing us the joy and creativity that music and teaching can bring. Until next time, we are CRCSD.”
The profile highlights how a single teacher’s daily visibility and long ties to local schools can contribute to student experience and school-community continuity within CRCSD.
