Juleeann Schlitter of Frederick D. Thomas Middle School in Lewes was named the 2023-24 Delaware Music Educator of the Year, a title awarded by the Delaware Music Educators Association.

Schlitter, a Dover High School and West Chester University graduate, has taught music in the Cape Henlopen School District for 14 years, 13 of which she spent at Beacon Middle School. 

“Getting kids to actually make music … [to understand] what’s behind the music and not just sing words is my favorite thing,” she said.

Although she started piano lessons at a young age, she didn’t start getting serious about music until high school, when she was selected for the all-state choir. The experience changed her life, she said, making her fall in love with the process of understanding music’s deeper meanings.

“It’s fun to find things [the students] are interested in and make it relevant to them,” Schlitter said. “That also is constantly changing, so you have to be on the ball and willing to make adjustments to your teaching.”

Indeed, according to eighth-graders Vivienne Cordrey and Nisa Coskun, Schlitter does a good job staying on top of current trends and popular lingo among their generation, making her teaching more relatable.

“She has a really good balance between her professional [work] and also getting real with the students and connecting,” Cordrey said.

Her rehearsals are very energetic, Coskun added, which helps to keep the students engaged.

Seventh-graders Elena Capiro, Quinn Clark, Charlie Delp, Ege Tair, Kate Ingerski and Brooklynn Bevin said Schlitter makes learning exciting and interesting, incorporating a variety of musical styles into the curriculum.

“The things she teaches us are unique, so they just stick in your brain,” Capiro said.

The recipient of the annual award is a music educator who’s deemed outstanding, who has shown success teaching music in school for at least five years and has garnered support from students, administrators, colleagues, parents and members of the community, according to the DMEA.

For Schlitter, the award means more than just the plaque on her classroom wall. 

“Having a colleague nominate me, and having the students and parents send in letters of support, [means] more,” she said. “It was awesome to hear [the students] express the place that I create for them in the school. That was the best part.”

The biggest lessons she hopes her students take away are simple: That each and every one of them matters, that it’s important to be a good person and that music can be used to express things in ways that words cannot.

“She makes everyone feel safe and makes it known that they [are meant to] be here,” Capiro said.