Griswold Middle School Music Teacher Retiring

After helping show students the musical field and having the high school choir perform at Carnegie Hall, music teacher Claire Burnett is retiring from  following 35 years of teaching.

Burnett's career as a music teacher has been an interesting ride to say the least. Burnett started teaching music in Vermont and after five years, she moved to Rocky Hill. She started as the music teacher at Griswold,  and Moser schools for the first three years and would travel between all of them, often storing equipment in her car.

After three years, she started teaching choir at  as well and five years into her Rocky Hill teaching career, she dropped the elementary schools. She would only provide musical instruction at the secondary schools until the past two years when she solely taught at the middle school.

When Burnett started teaching choir at the high school, there was six children in the class, however in its hay day, there were as many as 60 students in the program. Burnett taught general music education at the middle and high school and developed electives such as theory, keyboarding and production.

Some of the highlights of Burnett's teaching career were having the high school choir sing at Carnegie Hall on four separate occasions. The choir also traveled through Italy and performed at Saint Francis Assisi Church, one of oldest churches in Rome and a cathedral in Florence.

Ten students from her courses are teaching or studying music in Connecticut. Burnett said her program has helped several students full fill their dreams in the musical field including two special education children.

"I just like to see any of the kids be happy and successful," Burnett said. "I think that is as much a reward."

With her husband retiring as well, Burnett plans on doing lots of traveling and visiting family members. Her children live in Oregon, Michigan and Washington D.C.  She plans to start a vegetable garden when she returns from her trips.

"I am still young enough to ski, travel and go boating," she said possible other adventures during her retirement.