Cape’s Chris Burkhart in running for 2026 Delaware Teacher of the Year

Chris Burkhart can’t remember a time in his life when he wasn’t surrounded by music.

The Cape Henlopen High School band director and music teacher, who was named the district’s 2025 Teacher of the Year and is in the running for 2026 Delaware Teacher of the Year, grew up with a father who taught music, a mother who directed their church choir and a younger sister who played the French horn. He played the trumpet.

“It was a very musical house,” Burkhart said with a smile. “It was just part of life.”

He recalls tagging along with his parents to concerts of all genres and styles, really expanding his musical horizons. He still listens to a wide range of music, though his favorite genre is jazz.

He earned an education degree from Temple University, not too far from his Springfield, Pa. hometown, and spent some time in the U.S. Army Reserve out of Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he played in the reserve’s band and directed their jazz band.

Post-graduation, he became a long-term elementary substitute by day and a trumpet player in local gigs at night.

“I realized I was having a lot more fun, and it was a lot more fulfilling, teaching than playing,” he said.

He's been teaching music ever since, now in his 16th year. The last 13 have been at Cape High, preceded by two years at Beacon Middle School and one at a Pennsylvania elementary school.

He has also earned his master's in music and music technology.

At Cape, he conducts the wind bands, symphonic bands and jazz ensembles, and teaches music technology and music theory. He also offers small-group music lessons.

Working with the kids has been the best part of the job.

“They're just really cool human beings,” he said. “They’re super insightful, hardworking and they’re really encouraging to us as teachers. There’s a lot of really positive feedback, where if I’m encouraging them to do something, they’ll give me a lot of that energy back, and it becomes this cyclical relationship that’s great for learning.”

The learning goes both ways, he said, and he’s always growing as a teacher. Over the years, he’s really had to learn to slow down and trust the process, which hasn’t been easy.

“Time and patience are some of those things that now, further into my career, I’m much better at,” he laughed.

He really wants his students to develop a strong personal work ethic and build resilience, and he wants them to love what they do.

In his Teacher of the Year speech, he talked a lot about the importance of intrinsic motivation and resilience.

“How to get students to want to do things, and then how to be resilient humans that, when they hit obstacles, want to overcome those obstacles rather than collapsing or waiting for them to be solved for them,” he said.

Authentic situations, like going out and performing for the community, are especially important for that, he said.

When it comes to his bands and ensembles, he really wants to equip his students with the skills and knowledge they need to continue engaging with music on their own.

“The goal is to make it so that Elly [Rolfes], my co-director, and I are kind of useless,” he said. “If we’re doing our job, and [the students] are doing their job, we’re going to hit a point where they don’t need us. So when they leave school, they can be independent musicians [or] they can engage with music in whatever way they want.”

Being named the Cape district Teacher of the Year was very humbling, he said. He expressed immense gratitude to all of his colleagues at Cape High, especially his co-director, Rolfes.

Representing his school and district sometimes feels heavy because of how many great teachers there are, he said, but he’s very thankful.

He's looking forward to the Delaware Teacher of the Year ceremony, which is set for the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Dover.