His Story
As a high school student Keith Ballard was inspired by a music teacher, Mr. Immel, and wanted to teach just like him. He changed his major because of low pay in public education, worked in sales at Motorola and then as a pharmaceutical sales representative, and found that he felt little purpose in the work. So he went back to Arizona State University for a second bachelor’s degree, in instrumental music, in 1993, and later earned a master’s from San Diego State University in 2003.
He taught music in the Glendale and Phoenix Union school districts and in San Diego Unified before joining the Sweetwater Union High School District in 1998, where he has taught ever since. His honors include California Music Educator of the Year in 2001, the San Diego County Office of Education’s Educator of the Year in 2002, a Milken National Educator Award and Arizona State University Hall of Fame induction in 2003, and a Congressional Outstanding Educator Award in 2017. A colleague says he has received more than 25 teaching awards.
Beyond the Classroom
When Ballard arrived at Montgomery High School in 1998 he saw the potential of a mariachi program and spent his break visiting four successful programs in Tucson. He wrote an 18-page proposal after studying why earlier district efforts had failed. Although district officials initially said it was not feasible, a school board president agreed to a trial, and in 1999 Ballard became a full-time mariachi teacher at Montgomery Middle School, recruiting more than 150 students. With no district curriculum, he drove into Tijuana twice a week to study with professional mariachi musicians. The program grew to ten other schools in the district, with seven mariachi teachers hired, and his students performed on national television and for two U.S. presidents.
He served nine years on the district’s mariachi scholarship foundation, which raised about $30,000 a year for graduating seniors, and four years as the district’s mariachi music chair. In 2002 he published the first article on mariachi education in MENC’s Teaching Music magazine, and he has written for Corwin Press and California Music Education. For 14 years his students have turned the music room into a holiday restaurant to serve desserts to the school staff.
Ballard has visited more than 170 high-performing schools in 20 countries to learn why other nations outperform the United States, and he has spoken about it in a TEDx talk at Grand Canyon University. A colleague notes that his programs have been featured in the media more than 80 times, including on the NBC Today Show and CBS This Morning.
Philosophy Into Practice
Ballard calls his classroom “A Mariachi Disneyland.” Its walls and ceiling are painted in eight bright colors, with fifty piñatas, papel picado wrapped around the room, banners with inspirational quotes and more than 1,000 LED lights. Students call him “Mr. Ballard” or “Mr. Keith,” a custom he picked up visiting schools in Finland. At the beginning and intermediate levels he drills fundamentals such as theory, rhythm, counting and scales, using games, cooperative learning and earned reward breaks.
He learned the importance of relationships the hard way. Early in his career he copied a nationally recognized supervising teacher who produced excellent ensembles but had little personal connection with his students, and too many of his own students dropped out. When one told him she and her friends were leaving because they were not having fun, he changed direction. Today few students leave his program. During the 2020 school closures he phoned parents daily, raised online attendance in his classes from about 50% to about 75%, and in April 2021 brought about 20 steel drum band students back to campus twice a week.
“Students look up to you with respect and admiration. For me, this is a real win-win!”Keith Ballard
In His Own Words
“only after good relations and respect are established, can a real transfer of knowledge happen.”Keith Ballard
“more important are the relationships that I build with my students.”Keith Ballard
“my primary role as a teacher was to be a source of empathy and human connection”Keith Ballard, on teaching music online in 2020
What Others Said
“A daring educator who forged new paths and paved them with boundless possibilities.”Principal, Launch Virtual Academy, Sweetwater Union High School District
“this very outstanding, unique, successful, and passionate educator and leader.”Thomas E. Teagle, Ed.D., executive director, Association of California School Administrators, Region 18
“Mr. Ballard ignited a passion for music in our son.”Jorge Marquez Zepeda, parent
“I can attest to his unwavering dedication to education and his remarkable impact on both students and educators alike.”Misael Virgen, colleague, Sweetwater Union High School District