New Employee Spotlight Series: Passion Project

National Heritage Academies® (NHA®) is debuting a newly revamped Employee Spotlight feature: the Passion Project Series! This series shines a light on the dedicated team members who bring their unique interests, talents, and energy into our school communities. 

Here is a look at what's coming up:

• This Week - The Creative Outlet: Highlighting educators leading arts, music, or theater.
• The Tech & Innovation Guide: Showcasing a teacher heading up robotics teams, eSports clubs, or coding initiatives.
• The Mind & Body Mentor: Featuring staff members coaching unconventional sports, running clubs, or mindfulness and meditation groups.

To kick off The Creative Outlet week, the series highlights East Arbor music teacher Cole Wilson and Oakside music teachers Ashley Brown and Lindsey Sanford-Spork, as they inspire students and build vibrant school cultures through music and theater. 

Cole Wilson Brings Hard Work and Harmony to East Arbor

When Cole Wilson graduated during the height of COVID-19 with a degree in music composition, teaching wasn't part of the master plan. But after stepping in to sub for an old band director, he quickly found his stride. Five years later, Cole is the heart of East Arbor Charter Academy’s K-8 music program, shaping young minds through rhythm, stagecraft, and hard work.

Cole wears many hats across the school. In addition to leading regular music classes, he organizes the regional NHA Honor Band on Saturdays, hosts school talent shows, and directs massive spring musicals like “Seussical, Jr.”, “Moana”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and “Shrek, Jr.” While the time commitment is immense, Cole is driven by the chance to teach students a lesson that extends far beyond the stage: that putting in effort is deeply rewarding.

"I talk to the kids a lot about how hard work can also be fun, but it doesn't always seem that way at the beginning," Cole shares. "I like to see them slowly realize that putting in the time and doing the hard work is better taking the easy way out."

That mindset takes center stage during the annual musical. On performance day at Washtenaw Community College, Cole steps back and lets the students take total control.

"A goal for the musical always is to let the students lead, whether backstage or in the limelight," Cole explains. "They come into a new building and don't know the backstage hall until the day before the production. They don't know the lighting system or the mics, but once they realize how much they have to do, they pull it together. It is so fun to just sit there at a certain point and watch them do it."

Whether he's helping fourth graders step up to stage-manage a production or guiding students through 30-minute band rehearsals, Cole uses music to build resilience.

"Perseverance is probably the main virtue I encourage," he said in reference to National Heritage Academies®’ (NHA®) Moral Focus™ virtues. "Practicing is hard, and students can start to feel discouraged and ask questions like ‘Why do I have to take this section so slow? Why do I work on these four seconds worth of notes for 20 minutes?’ I see the biggest shift once I see a kid get what practice is and realize, 'Oh my gosh, I can train my own brain on something.'"

The impact extends to events like the NHA Honor Band, where Cole brings together students from NHA schools across the region. For kids coming from smaller programs, playing in a massive ensemble for the first time is transformative.

"It's really interesting to see kids from schools where only two or three participate be like, 'Oh my gosh, a big band is really fun to play in,'" Cole says. "Just sitting in that space and hearing all those instruments at once is a really great moment for kids who don't normally get to experience that."

When he isn't conducting ensembles or building sets, Cole has been spending his quiet hours exploring a new passion: woodworking. After completing his very first project, a conductor's podium box, he is already planning his next challenge: building a desk from scratch.

From the woodshop to the stage, Cole continues to show the East Arbor community what happens when passion, patience, and hard work come together.

How Ashley Brown and Lindsey Sanford-Spork Bring Theater to Life at Oakside

For Ashley Brown and Lindsey Sanford-Spork, bringing the performing arts to Oakside Prep Academy stems from a shared, deep-rooted love for the stage. Lindsey, who played violin in the pit orchestra during high school musicals, remembers looking up from below the stage with a desire to perform. 

"I love theater in general, and that's why I wanted to bring it here for the kids because I was too scared to do it," Lindsey shares. "Maybe they'll want to do it instead, and I can help my students get there." 

For Ashley, her musical background as a high school choir student inspired her to establish a theater program at Oakside after seeing how similar programs transformed students in her previous teaching roles.

Together, alongside a passionate team of colleagues who step in as vocal coaches, directors, and crew leaders, the duo spearheaded Oakside’s very first musical theater production, “Annie”, last May. The show gave students across campus a chance to discover talents they never knew they had.

"We had so many singers that we were like, 'Oh my gosh, I had no idea that you could sing like that,'" Ashley recalls. "Not even just on stage, some students really took to being part of the crew, running sound, or helping out with costumes or makeup, there's an avenue for a ton of these kids to participate."

That inclusion extends to every corner of production. During the summer, two students who didn't typically gravitate toward music class took charge of the stage lighting for a showcase, taking full ownership of where spotlights fell and when they turned off. In another instance, a student with a minor acting role transitioned to backstage audio tech and seamlessly took over managing microphones for the entire cast.

The excitement surrounding the theater program has transformed school culture across all grade levels. After students watched their peers perform a dress rehearsal of “Annie”, excitement spread rapidly across campus. Students returned from summer break asking when auditions for the next show would begin.

"If you are over-the-top and passionate, which is how I feel every day with the kids, they're going to be more into it," Lindsey says of building enthusiasm. "If you gently nudge them in that direction, it tends to get them to stick. Just be passionate about it."

Looking ahead, the momentum is only growing. Oakside has two major productions lined up: a middle and high school murder mystery play this December, followed by a spring performance of “The Lion King”.

Beyond their work at school, both educators carry impressive musical backgrounds. In high school, Lindsey worked alongside an up-and-coming conductor, who now conducts on Broadway, testing out music for “Hairspray”. Meanwhile, Ashley once traveled to New York to perform Eric Whitacre's choral works under the composer's direction at Carnegie Hall.

Now, through every rehearsal and set design, Ashley and Lindsey are opening those same transformational doors for the students at Oakside.