Mandy Algate is taking her training from Texas Tech’s School of Music to not only
teach students, but to teach teachers as well.
CREATORS
As you walk the hallways of Roscoe Wilson Elementary School, you can see vibrant paintings
proudly hung by little hands. You smell the buttery scent of popcorn popping in the
teacher’s lounge. And as you make your way toward the back of the building, you can
hear animated voices rising and falling to a shared melody.
Texas Tech University alumna Mandy Algate has spent the last 13 years building a program that not only
equips students with musical proficiency, but offers a space for them to move, laugh,
sing and dance – what Algate calls the human experience.
Upon graduating, many Texas Tech alumni make their way out into the world. Across
the U.S. and across the globe. For Algate, her next step was a few blocks down the
street.
Algate is one of the music teachers at Roscoe Wilson, a sought-after campus due to
its long-tenured educators and its status as a fine arts magnet school.
Mandy Algate
While she may have only moved six blocks down the street from Texas Tech’s School of Music, her path wasn’t always straightforward. Algate came to Texas Tech in 2008 as a flautist.
Her parents were both musicians, and Algate recalls music always playing in her home.
She had the opportunity to follow in her parents’ footsteps: the two met in marching
band at the University of Texas. She also had her choice of many strong music programs
in Houston, but a campus visit to Texas Tech sealed the deal.
“When I came to Lubbock, I really liked the community feel,” she says. “Not just the
campus but the whole town. When you drive around and see all the Texas Tech flags
flying at businesses and outside of homes, you can tell this is a community that loves
the university.
“It just felt really cozy.”
Algate arrived at Texas Tech planning to become a private flute teacher, but her path
took a detour during her third year when she walked into Susan Brumfield’s Music for Children class.
“The first day I was like, ‘Oh, that’s it. That’s what I want to do,’” Algate says.
While the class was certainly fun, it was a deeper revelation that captured Algate’s
attention – there was a depth of learning possibility with young children she never
imagined.
Brumfield sang a name game called, “Riding on the Railway,” and broke down each layer
of what they’d just done afterward. There was a surprising number of musical skills
woven into the game.
“No one had shown me that these little kids can compose and they can improvise,” Algate
says. “They can do some sophisticated things. You just have to sequence your way into
it.”
The class fused Algate’s interest in pedagogy with her innate creativity, and a calling
was born. She loved the course so much, she ended up taking it twice – again in graduate school when she continued her studies with the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts.
Along the way, her professors encouraged her to pursue the Kodály Certification –
an experience-based approach that’s particularly popular in early music education,
and a competitive advantage in hiring. The approach is named after the famous Hungarian
composer, who believed that music literacy could be taught to children best with music
from their own folk heritage.
“That’s a lot to unpack, but for example, when I was growing up in the ‘90s, we would
play hand-clapping games at recess,” she explains. “There were always songs that went
along with this, or with jump rope.”
One’s own folk heritage might be as simple as “Miss Mary Mack” or “A Sailor Went to
Sea.”
“Technology has really taken over,” she says. “When I’m on lunch duty in the cafeteria
or outside, you see much less organic play.”
She’s quick to note that technology isn’t bad, it’s just different, and she is passionate
about creating a genuine connection that allows music to be made together.
Algate also loves reigniting organic curiosity in her students.
“My job is to lead them, but their job is the discovery,” she says. “So, I have the
breadcrumbs, but they have to go find them.”
Algate will start a class by having her students form a circle. They sing a few folk
songs, pairing them with hand motions or a simple dance.
This Friday, they’re singing “Tideo,” a well-known Texas play party song.
Pass one window, Tideo, pass two windows, Tideo
Pass three windows, Tideo, Jingle at the windows, Tideo.
The kids sing these lyrics repeatedly, as they move in an inner and outer circle,
changing partners each time they “pass a window.”
It’s impressive choreography for second graders.
“I love a singing game where there’s lots of movement happening,” Algate says with
a grin. “When I can teach a game and they pick it up fast, then I can get out of the
way and just watch kids being kids.”
Algate’s position at Roscoe Wilson fell into her lap almost serendipitously. When
a last-minute opening appeared, Brumfield advocated for Algate, and she was placed
there as a student teacher. After completing her student teaching semester, she was
hired.
“It’s been a really lovely place to work,” she says.
The longevity has allowed her to witness the arc of many kids’ educational journey.
She is a staple in their lives from 4 to 10 years old, a massive piece of childhood
development.
“I get to see them change and grow, not just as musicians, but as people too,” she
beamed. “I love going to middle school and high school concerts, even UIL competitions,
just to see where they end up.”
Local parent Robin Phillips has had two children in Algate’s music classes at Roscoe
Wilson.
“My first impression of Mandy was her poise and professionalism, and how deeply she
cares about her job,” Phillips says.
Her appreciation of Algate only grew as her kids would come home talking about what
they’d learned in class. Phillips is a vocalist who holds a bachelor’s in vocal performance
from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a master’s from the Eastman School
of Music, so she recognizes good teaching.
“I remember thinking, ‘This is a really high-quality music educator,’” Phillips recalls.
While her children have now aged out of Algate’s classes, her youngest daughter still
works with Algate through her participation in the Organization of American Kodály
Educators (OAKE) National Children’s Choir.
Algate works with students across Lubbock ISD who she believes can successfully audition
for the group.
“Mandy has been instrumental in making this opportunity possible,” Phillips says.
“It’s been life changing for my youngest. The coaching she’s received from Mandy and
the experience of singing in that choir has helped her realize she can do challenging
things, and it’s given her a sense of self-esteem.”
The OAKE choir isn’t the only extra activity Algate juggles. She also is the associate
conductor at the West Texas Children’s Chorus, and just recently, started a new adventure
by becoming the instructional coach for music educators across Lubbock ISD.
She teaches at Roscoe Wilson in the mornings, and spends afternoons traveling to other
elementary schools to encourage, develop and teach music educators. The arrangement
allows her to help others refine what they do while still being a practitioner herself.
“I get to have a foot in each world,” she says.
Instructional coaching is an initiative Lubbock ISD administration is rolling out
on a broader level. Executive Director of Leadership & Professional Development Beth
Berridge believes the best people to teach teachers, are other teachers.
“Mandy is a master educator,” Berridge says. “There is no one better to learn from.”
Berridge has a musical background herself, and can only describe what Algate does
as magic.
“She just has a way of gaining the attention of any child, anywhere,” she explains.
“Kids are mesmerized by her.”
While her career has taken off, Algate’s connection to Texas Tech has never been stronger.
For the past several years, she has helped lead the All Together Symphony, a collaboration between Lubbock ISD elementary schools and the Texas Tech Symphony Orchestra.
The concert brings hundreds of kids to campus to experience orchestral music they’ve
listened to in advance. The elementary students get to engage with the music through
movement, rhythm activities and other interactive elements.
“For a lot of kids, it’s their first experience with an orchestra,” Algate explains.
“If you just walk into a concert with no knowledge about it, it can be intimidating
and boring. We want it to feel approachable.”
Beyond work, Algate and her husband try to attend as many local concerts and ensembles
as possible. Both are music educators and met at Texas Tech. For the couple, staying
in Lubbock wasn’t about playing it safe – it was recognizing they had a vibrant arts
community that had endless opportunities.
Mandy Algate with her husband
“It’s still about community,” Algate says. “The same reasons I chose Texas Tech are
the same reasons we’ve stayed in Lubbock.”