John Luce is one of the many new teachers who have placed themselves in the eyes of students. Whether it is how he is so calm and collected to engaging with the students, whether in band or in his study halls, Luce has been welcomed into the Rice Memorial High School community. But who is he? And why did he decide to teach? And why at Rice Memorial High School?

When you first came to Rice did you ever worry about being treated differently from other teachers who have been here for multiple years?

It’s always hard to be the new person coming into a job, but it wasn’t my first time being a new teacher. I’ve worked at a couple of different schools, so it wasn’t so much that I was nervous but that I was excited and ready to kind of hit the ground running.

What was your childhood like what inspired you to do what you do whether it be teaching a band class or German?

I had a band teacher and chorus teacher…and he was just part of my childhood from 7th grade all the way through my senior year in high school and a great person. He encouraged me to audition for like All States [Music Festival] and encouraged me to play in groups outside of school. He was great. And then of course a German teacher when I was in school. I’m still in touch with him today, and so I think I keep those memories with me, and I try to emulate them as much as I can.

What aspects did they have that were similar or different that inspired you to be like them?

That’s a great question. Well, my band teacher might play piano, but his main instrument was trombone. He was one of these guys that could do everything. He would direct the chorus from the piano, so he would be playing and conducting the group at the same time. I’ve done that in the last few years as well, so that aspect of being able to conduct a group from the keyboard I always thought that was a really good skill to have but beyond that just being able to joke with students and to strive for musicality as much as you can. But also to realize that no one’s perfect, and what we’re doing is bigger than all of us.

Out of all of the high schools in Vermont, why would you choose the Rice band to conduct?

In a way, I feel like it’s coming home to Rice because I worked on the musical here a few years ago. My wife used to teach at Rice, and even when I was at South Burlington High School I knew people at Rice and I knew that they had a really strong music program, and so I was very fortunate to have a relationship with the school even before I started here.

What school(s) have you taught at before you came to Rice?

I taught music at Thetford Academy, and then I taught chorus for one year at Bellows Falls High School.

Are those both public or private?

Thetford is interesting; it is a public private school, so it’s a private school that serves Thetford and surrounding towns and Bellows Falls is a public school.

How was the transition from those public areas, at least semi-public schools, to a fully private school like Rice?

I think that the values of Rice are really important. I think it’s amazing when students say “thank you” when they leave your class even if you didn’t really do anything great that day. Students are polite, they’re engaged and you know I don’t see any discipline problems or behavioral problems that I might have had at another place.

What inspired you to teach music here and not offer your skills in German?

They used to offer German here, but you know I taught high school languages for about 25 years, and I decided to stop teaching languages and switch up my game a little bit and to visit that other passion that I had which was music. You know, after teaching something for 25 years, at this point in my career to do something different but something that I loved and that I feel I can give all myself for.

Would you ever consider if they opened up the language or they’re looking to open up a new language here and they’re thinking of doing German? Would you ever consider teaching that class?

Sure yeah, I mean when I stopped teaching German, I never thought that I would never go back to it; it is something I have years and years of experience and skills to do. Yeah, I’m open to teaching anything. I think good teaching is good teaching regardless of the topic that you’re teaching, whether it’s band or chorus or languages or math. But I’m not going to teach math because I’m not good at it!

Are there any other jobs that you would say that you’re happy that you’ve done other than teaching a band or German?

I took a year off a couple of years ago, and I worked at a retirement community in Shelburne Wake Robin. Besides being a driver for that company, I also played piano and led sing-alongs for senior citizens. That was incredibly rewarding, and it was a lot of fun too.

Slightly changing it up a bit, what were the colleges or colleges that you went to?

Well, I studied music and German at Bowdoin College, that’s in Maine and then later where I went and got my masters in German at Middlebury and then, years later when I decided to start teaching music I went to UVM and I studied music education.

Finally, would you say that you have so far enjoyed your time teaching at Rice?

No. (laughs) No, I’m just kidding. Yes, I think [for] a teacher who’s been doing something for so long you realize that you know even if you wake up and you’re not really having a good day when I walk into the building and I see students it automatically puts me in a good mood. But you know that’s what I’m supposed to be doing, so I think you take the bad with the good.