TOWAMENCIN- North Penn has been very lucky to have many great student teachers throughout the years. West Chester University student Mr. Michael Trycieckyj is another fantastic student teacher finishing up his last week in the district. Through working with Mr. Matthew Klenk in the chorus room during and after school, Trycieckyj has been teaching almost every step of the way with all four choirs at North Penn.

Trycieckyj has been involved with music his entire life and began formal music training in third grade while playing the viola. He started orchestra in elementary school as well as chorus and continued throughout middle and high school. Orchestra also sparked his love for writing music.

“I played in my elementary school orchestra and it was the coolest thing to me and even in third and fourth grade I wanted to write music for our orchestra, but I didn’t know how to do that or even read music for that matter. So I would write out charts on Microsoft Word with finger numbers and I said ‘I wrote a piece of music!’ and kind of went from there,” said Trycieckyj.

When asked if he had any other interests in middle or high school, it was hard for him to answer. Trycieckyj has always been involved in a variety of things revolving around music: performing, writing, music production, music technology, and more. He does so much to make sure he is never bored with music. A main aspect of music he has been involved in since he was thirteen is various bands. He was learning how to play guitar at the time and some classmates joined him to make a hard rock band. Trycieckyj is currently in two bands, a hard rock band and a folk band.

“I had a couple of different groups throughout high school too and then after I graduated high school I joined the hard rock band I play with right now, Andora. That group has always been a thing since high school, and then I was friends with those guys and ended up playing with them once we all went to college. And that has been a ton of fun because hard rock is not really something that fits my personality very much, but it is just a lot of fun and I get to play with my best friends.” 

His second band, Box of Books, started about a year ago. One of his classmates at West Chester texted him one day asking him if he wanted to start a folk band, and his reply was “sure, why not?” Box of Books actually released a new album on October 29th which is available on iTunes and Spotify.

Mr. Trycieckyj is currently majoring in Music Education with a concentration in Voice at West Chester University. His favorite part of his college experience has been being able to explore things outside of his coursework. During his junior year, he was able to take classes besides the required Music Education courses. Music History, Jazz Studies, and Composition were a few of his favorites.

“I really enjoyed it because it got me outside of what was expected of me. It got me to experience some different sides of my college career that I had to go out and seek myself. It wasn’t what I was required to do. I think it helped make me a bit of a more well rounded musician and it gave me some new perspectives to bring to my teaching as well,” explained Trycieckyj.

Beginning his student teaching placement at Bridle Path Elementary earlier this school year, Trycieckyj has been able to work with both Klenk brothers as Matthew Klenk’s younger brother, Michael Klenk, is the music teacher at Bridle Path.

“I am glad to say that I really lucked out by being placed in the North Penn School District and with the Klenk brothers too because they are both just fantastic music educators. I remember from the very first elementary lesson I saw at Bridle Path, I was just captivated by the way Klenk got all this energy and enthusiasm for these first graders and they just ate it up and it was so much fun. I’ve never seen an elementary class just so in love with what they were doing in that moment,” said Trycieckyj.

Of course he also had a lot to say about Mr. Matthew Klenk at the high school and how much he has learned through his time at North Penn.

“Mr. Klenk student taught with my high school director, so it’s really cool to be apart of a lineage of music teachers and seeing how my high school director, Mr. Conohan, influenced him, and that’s something that comes up a lot in our conversations,” Trycieckyj remarked.

Trycieckyj had the opportunity to work with the full chorus, Women’s and Men’s choir, and Chamber singers. He compared his placement to his peers and how he was able to have a hands on experience when it came to teaching the chorus classes as well as working with the other choirs.

“I was teaching full rehearsals for a good chunk of this placement and the week when Mr. Klenk was out, I got to work with Women’s choir, Men’s choir, and Chamber Singers, which was a lot of responsibility because those are the top groups and there is a lot of work that needs to get done. The fact that I was trusted with doing so means a lot to me too,” commented Trycieckyj.

In the future, Trycieckyj is ready for anything. He can see himself working anywhere K-12 and is excited to see where he ends up after graduation.

“Going forward I am hoping to stay in the Philadelphia area after I graduate, but also continue my performing, writing and production. I have a couple of projects lined up for after I graduate that I will be recording so I am looking forward to that,” said Trycieckyj.

Trycieckyj only has a few more days student teaching at North Penn. He will be back again next week to conduct a song or two at the annual Winter Concert. He is truly grateful for this experience and has so much appreciation for each of the choirs and hopes to teach his own choir in the future. 

“The high school has such a huge program with a ton of really talented singers who are really enthusiastic about what they’re doing. It is really inspiring to see, going to ACDA Nationals this spring or even the Temple performance earlier this year, just seeing all of that hard work pay off and see how much a program can really be capable of is inspiring to me because these are things I can do and getting to work with someone who knows how to do it is truly inspiring.”