APRIL 2, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A15
LIFE
Feel -Good
STORY
Saluting the people that make
us proud of our community
presented by
Rist honored with Service to Education Award
motivated them to keep growing in their
musical talents."
Rist has always had a passion for
music, but he fi rst got the itch to start
teaching as a 19-year old while on a trip
to Nigeria. Rist was there as a humani-
tarian, serving a poor and impoverished
part of the country, and carried around a
battery powered keyboard to teach piano
lessons to kids.
A children’s choir director in Nigeria
reached out to Rist and asked him
to direct and teach one of the choirs.
sudoku
Although Rist had little experience with
directing a choir, he believes that he
found his calling in that moment.
“He let me have the fl oor and I didn’t
know what I was doing. I just imitated the
teachers that I have had in the past. But
in that moment I found something that
left a lasting impression. I felt so alive. It
was very powerful,” Rist said.
Rist attended Oregon State University
and received his bachelor's degree in
music education in 2012 — he got his
master's degree the following year. He
then began working as the choir director
at Hermiston High School.
Rist was the choir director at
Hermiston for three years and said
that he had no intention of leaving.
However, when he got a call from Mary
Lou Boderman — the coordinator of
music and drama for Salem-Keizer
Public Schools — about a job opening at
McNary, he saw it as an opportunity that
he couldn’t pass up.
See RIST, page A16
brainfood
sudoku answers pg A20
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Back in early-March, McNary choir
teacher Josh Rist spent all day prepar-
ing a special lesson for his students. He
was under the impression that principal
Erik Jespersen would be in attendance
observing his class.
Jespersen was in his class, but he
was joined by over a dozen members of
the community to present Rist with the
Service to Education Award for the 60th
annual Keizer First Citizen & Awards
Banquet — which took place virtually on
Saturday, March 20.
“It was an overwhelming surprise and
totally unexpected,” Rist said. “In a year
where a lot of work that teachers do is
going under the radar, it felt validating
and encouraging to be recognized. It was
a really special moment.”
Marion
County
Commissioner
Danielle Bethell nominated Rist for the
award.
“Josh is a one of a kind educator. He
truly has a gift of sharing his art and pas-
sion with students. But from a teacher
perspective he’s a solid mentor to so
many. He’s authentic in his relationships
with each student, he sees them for who
they are and he allows them to be indi-
viduals," Bethell said.
"I’ve watched him fi nd creative and
meaningful ways to keep his students
engaged and pouring out their love for
music. In a time where so much is uncer-
tain and students are really getting left
behind academically, Josh invested a
great deal of time into his students and
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