Teacher was inspiration to many

The premature passing of Sarah Geanos — the Wilson Middle School music teacher in Glendale who inspired hundreds of Glendale’s children — as reported in the Glendale News-Press Nov. 22 is a loss we will feel for a very long time.

Hers is that special life we should be celebrating today. To me, and for many other parents whose children developed their musical talent in her classes, her contributions would be reason enough to hold our own American Music Awards at the Alex Theatre.

It was in her classes where children expanded their appreciation of music. It was through her that children developed the sense that they, working together, can produce joy and outcomes that they could not produce on their own.

Geanos’ musical signature was the medley. Her students weaved from many separate musical pieces a seamless musical variety composition that flowed just right. Her musical medley was produced by students who represented Glendale’s diversity — they were an ethnic medley of their own.

But Geanos helped them achieve much more than that. She knew how to inspire effort and build confidence in her students. In her classes, they learned that consistent effort produces results. They learned that there are no shortcuts on the path to real achievement.

They also learned something special — that it is through working together that we can produce a greater common good.

Sarah Geanos inspired, guided and enriched all our lives. May 1,000 angels trumpet her arrival in heaven.

Herbert Molano

Tujunga