Michigan music teachers bring orchestra to life for middle schoolers

By Yi-Jin Yu

Sometimes, two heads are better than one. From the way music teachers Becky Bush and Sarah Lenhart describe it, there's nothing better than having both of them in the classroom guiding the next generation of students and budding musicians.

Bush and Lenhart, who also happen to be twins, have both been teaching for the last two decades. For the last three years, they've been teaming up to teach middle school orchestra together in Michigan's Hudsonville Public School District.

Lenhart primarily teaches at Riley Street Middle School, and Bush, who started Hudsonville's orchestra program back in 2001, teaches at Baldwin Street Middle School. The two also instruct fifth and sixth graders in the same classroom at the school district's 5/6 Building at Georgetown, and they say it has been "really fun to work together."

Courtesy of Hudsonville Public Schools

Both Bush and Lenhart say they love seeing their students connect with and respond to music, a passion they both have shared since they were young girls.

"We feed off of each other quite a lot because we get along so well," Lenhart told "Good Morning America" of their "seamless" teaching style. "Because we have such a common background and we're so similar in how we approach things, we really can easily guess what the other person is thinking to do next in the classroom."

The sisters come from a family of musicians and educators and say they both fell in love with teaching music at the same time.

Twins Becky Bush, left, and Sarah Lenhart teach together at at Hudsonville Public Schools in Hudsonville, Mich.

"We had grown up playing music, experiencing music and teaching private lessons, even as high school students, but it was teaching at a camp … where we really fell in love with just working with students," Bush explained.

Courtesy of Hudsonville Public Schools

Twins Becky Bush and Sarah Lenhart are both music teachers at Hudsonville Public Schools in Hudsonville, Michigan.

Between the two of them, they now teach about 350 students. Lenhart, who plays violin, and Bush, who plays viola, said they love to connect with students the most.

Courtesy of Hudsonville Public Schools

Lenhart teaches at Riley Street Middle School and Bush teaches at Baldwin Street Middle School. The twin teachers also teach fifth graders and sixth graders together at Hudsonville's 5/6 Building at Georgetown.

"I think both of us thrive off of figuring out how to motivate students and … how do we get them to be successful because that's our job as teachers," Bush said.

Lenhart and Bush are also following in their father Bob Phillips' footsteps as an educator. Although Phillips retired from teaching and a second career in music publishing, he still volunteers once a week in his daughters' classroom.

Courtesy of Hudsonville Public Schools

Twins, Becky Bush and Sarah Lenhart, right, have followed their dad Bob Phillips, a retired teacher, into music education.

"We'll bring him in to listen to the orchestras and give us feedback and then work with the students," Lenhart said.

Aside from their impactful work with students, Bush and Lenhart also hope to spread the word about the importance of music education and supporting public schools.

"What I would like to share about public school education is 'Support the teachers,'" Lenhart said. "They are working tirelessly to connect with kids, to motivate kids, to challenge kids, to help kids, and that's what it's about."