Benicia High graduate Jesse Means has created Mr. Means Music, a virtual YouTube music show for his NYC students that he started during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist with distance learning.
Amidst COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Means Music provides a musical outlet for young students
Galen Kusic, Editor
Jesse Means, a 1985 graduate of Benicia High School is going above and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic to make sure his New York City music students get a quality music education.
Means became a public school music teacher in 2001 after several different professions, including performing on Broadway. He still resides in NYC, where he created Mr. Means Music, a remote learning tool for pre-Kindergarten through third grade students.
“I decided to create a weekly online show to continue to teach my youngest students,” said Means, who transformed his NYC apartment into a studio with a green screen and all the equipment. “The wheels turned in my head, that I needed to find a way to create consistency and normalcy in a situation where neither was seeming it was going to be the case.”
Means is a 1985 graduate of Benicia High School where he was in the marching band. He has since gone on to act on Broadway and became a music teacher in 2001.
Having been dubbed “the modern day Mr. Rogers,” Means wanted his students to see his face and hear his voice as motivations to learn new music. Hence, the weekly Mr. Means Music episodes were born.
After transforming his apartment into a green-screen filming and post-production studio, he created Mr. Means Music, a virtual, music classroom for his young scholars on YouTube. Each week Mr. Means produces and uploads a new, 10-20 minute video lesson to his channel. His students aren’t the only ones accessing these lessons. Mr. Means Music videos have been viewed by children and families across the city, state, nation and as far as Italy and the U.K.
“The challenges with content are there, but no more so than during the normal school year,” said Means. “In the idea of Mr. Rogers, I’m trying to assess their academic needs as well as balance that with their social/emotional needs.”
Means starts with an idea, like “friends are special,” or “you can be helpful no matter your size.” Often times he will see what his young students are going through by the pictures they choose to draw for him.
A view of Means setting up his green screen in his NYC apartment to film a weekly episode of Mr. Means Music.
“I know I felt left out as a kid, so one of my goals is the let each of my students know that he or she is good enough to belong, just the way they are. And I use music to do that,” he said.
Means cites one of the main challenges being time. Without a team to help with planning, writing, recording, editing or publishing, he’s getting little sleep to make this project for the kids a reality. This is all in addition to grading and commenting on all turned-in assignments.
“My goal to inspire and educate students about music at this age is to simply have an appreciation for music and the roll it plays in our lives and society,” he said. “As someone who was an outcast as a kid, what I want young people to take away from my videos is that they know the way they sing, the way they dance, the way they stand, the way they walk, the way they look, the way they love, indeed the way they ARE is enough.”
All of this while simply having fun with music.
“I know that what I do adds value to the future of our children’s’ lives,” he said. “Music helps the brain to process ideas in a new and different way. Social/emotional learning helps the world become a better place.”
Unfortunately, Means was recently informed there will be no music teacher position at his school next year.
A view of Mr. Means Music virtual YouTube music class/show.
While Means’ job future seemed unclear, he recently received news that the NYC Department of Education will be using clips of his Mr. Means Music videos as features of what arts teachers were doing to help make remote teaching more successful. He also just received notification that he received a grant from the College Football Playoff Foundation’s nonprofit, Extra Yard for Teachers, to continue his pursuits of educating both in the classroom and remotely.
“I have had many jobs, but as I get older I learn that with each job my work is always the same,” said Means. “As a firefighter, an EMT, a singer, an actor, a restaurant general manager, and as a teacher my work has always been to build up others to help them become the best them they can become.”
The last time Means visited Benicia was the Summer of 2014, when he visited the BHS class of 1984 reunion.
“I have many memories from my high school years in Benicia,” he said. “Some were good and some were not so good. I will say, that while I don’t know what it’s like to live there now, in the 80’s (as many places) it could be a lonely place for a young man of color.”
Means gives credit to a couple of his former teachers. The first is Al McNeil. He was the choral director at UC Davis when he attended.
“He always encouraged me to be my best as a smart, black man, then once I was, to go further. He just celebrated his 100th birthday in Feb. of this year. The second is Debrah Casey. She was the choral teacher at both Benicia High and Benicia Middle Schools. While I was more of a marching band guy, she would always work with me once a year during the high school musical and during the California Music Festival.”
“She always encouraged me to find a way to touch into my compassion for expression,” he said. “She is a very compassionate person. Even to this day she has taken the time to reach out and encourage me and my endeavors with Mr. Means Music. I never really wanted to be a teacher, but I knew if I ever were, I’d want to be one like Ms. Casey.”
Mr. Means encourages Benicia parents and students to tune into his YouTube channel to get original, creative and meaningful music lessons during the summer and into next school year. Here are links below:
Here is a link to a sample video of Mr. Means Music:
Sharing is caring!
Leave a Reply