–by Sylvania AdVantage Staff
PUBLICATION DATE: Aug 18, 2020

Pam Thiel, Northview High School’s Director of Orchestras, is the State Board of Education District 2 Teacher of the Year. She begins her 25th year with Sylvania Schools. Along with directing at the high school level, Thiel is the Director of the McCord Junior High School Orchestra.
Since 1996, the Northview High School Orchestra program has significantly grown under her leadership. She has a substantial list of accomplishments within the district and with professional organizations that demonstrate her ability to adapt the program and draw students into the performing arts.
Over the years Pam Thiel has grown Northview High School’s orchestra program from 39 students to 130 students and increased the number of curricular orchestras at the high school from 1 to 3.
Thiel also started an auditioned rock orchestra and expanded the chamber music program at Northview. Her enthusiasm and encouragement of students has helped grow the city-wide orchestra program from 150 to over 500 students.
Thiel stated, “Creating music can be freeing. If we create a classroom environment where students are free to express themselves without judgement, students can find great joy in this.”
Thiel’s interest in broadening the student experience beyond the classroom is evident through her active role in the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) as a conference presenter and chair of many district and state events.
She was recognized as the 2019 Sylvania Schools Educator of the Year, a recognition of her outstanding contribution of time, talent, and positive impact on her students.