Bailey Cords, a 2016 graduate of Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, has been a music teacher in Springfield since the 2020-21 school year. Under him, the 7-12 choir program has tripled in size.
Many in the Janesville area may be familiar with Bailey Cords, a fellow 2016 graduate of Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School. Back then, many may have known him as a hardworking and popular student with an interest in music. These days, the people of Springfield, a town an hour and 15 minutes west of Janesville (and similar in size), know him as a highly respected man and the reason their choir program has grown so immensely in just five years.
“We started with a little over 50 kids in grades 7 through 12,” Cords explained. “Now, we have 258.”
The choir has grown so much that they had to change the location of their group photo. Usually, they all gather on risers in the school auditorium. But instead, they had to take the picture in the gym.
Cords’s musical journey started young. He always had an interest in music education. “I always wanted to be a music teacher,” he said. “Honestly, I wanted to be Becky Borneke.” However, for a while, things changed for him. He saw music less as a career option in high school and more as a hobby. “I thought I needed an ‘adult’ job.”
But fate showed him that music education was what he meant to do. After an unfortunate event near the end of 2015 and into 2016, there was a vacancy at the choir position for a few months at JWP, and the senior class was left to try to run the classes for much of that time. Cords, then one of those seniors, took on a significant leadership role, and that experience gave him some valuable insight.
He decided to study music education at South Dakota State University and earned his bachelor’s degree. While at SDSU, he was in the Concert Choir, the Head Table Singers (a chamber choir), Westminster Singers (another chamber), the Statemen’s Choir (men’s choir), performed in several operas, was involved in the university’s concert band, and was in the Pride of the Dakotas marching band. Oh, and he was an assistant student director of the Choralia Women’s choir. He also recently received his master’s in educational leadership & administration from St. Cloud State University.
Cords credits his main professor from SDSU, Dr. Laura Diddle, with giving him the final push to pursue music. “I credit her with why I went into music,” he explained. “I still planned on going to SDSU to study ag business. But she helped me through college and has helped me afterwards.”
Although he was primarily a music educator, he still finds ways to be involved in agriculture. “I liked the management part of ag, but I do that here,” he explained. “I run accounts, and I take care of business like I would in the agriculture setting. But I get to teach as well. I still get my ag stuff in there, too, because I work for a farmer in town. So, I get the best of both worlds.”
Cords got his start teaching general music for grades K-3 while taking on the choral duties in grades 6-12 in August of 2020. “Right in the beautiful time of Covid…” he joked. “My first day of teaching was in what was the elementary gym, now a shop. I didn’t know what any of my kids looked like.”
However, when Springfield hired his current colleague, Andrea Berends, in 2022, he was able to focus solely on teaching 7-12 choir while she took on the K-3 music duties. He directs four ensembles throughout the week: the 6th-grade choir, 7-8 choir, 9-12 choir, and the chamber ensemble.
Since Cords started, the choir program has grown immensely. In his first year, there were 38 in the 9-12 choir and 32 in junior high. In his third year, it had nearly doubled to 70 in the high school and 50 in junior high. “I think we broke 100 in high school choir in my fourth year,” he added.
This school year? There are 130 students enrolled in 9-12 and 80 in the junior high. That is exactly 2.5 times the number of junior high students and more than triple the number of high schoolers from his first year.
So, how did he do it? Firstly, by building respect with the students. Secondly, by encouraging community support and involvement.
“My mantra is, ‘Be a good human,’” he said. “We start there on the first day. And if that’s the only thing they learn from me, great. That’s what I want them to know: how to be a good human and treat each other with respect.”
“You have to be realistic with the kids and build relationships from there,” he added. “You must understand them.”
It also helps not to let troublemakers get under your skin. Allegedly, some of the students tried that with other teachers. But when Cords made it clear that they couldn’t hurt his feelings, they grew to respect him. “You can’t demand it from them. Kids are smart. They want to be good and perform hard music. You need to give them the tools and be organized. It’s also important to have high standards but set achievable goals.”
Community support has been great, too. “Being in Springfield, that’s the biggest thing that makes us successful,” he said. “We’ve been able to update our pianos, purchase new risers, and get brand new robes. It all started because someone said, ‘Here’s a 2.5k check. I want you to do something of it.’ You never know what one act of kindness could do for a program.”
Many may not think of Springfield as a hotspot for colleges, but as Cords pointed out, it’s a halfway point between many college towns like Mankato, Brookings, Sioux Falls, St. Cloud, and even the Twin Cities metro. However, being a Jackrabbit has its advantages in Springfield.
“We have a lot of diehard Jackrabbit fans here,” Cords elaborated. “There are lots of people from SDSU who live here.”
Berends, a fellow SDSU alumnus, learned the same teaching style Cords did, which makes things smoother and simpler for both of them. They also have the SDSU choir, including Dr. Diddle, visit during their choir tours. The university band director is also scheduled to visit Springfield this spring.
For Cords, every day brings a favorite memory. “Any performance we’ve done has been great,” he said. “The Springfield choir performed at SDSU during their state conference, my second year here.”
If he had to pick a yearly memory, though, it’s always the Christmas concert. “It’s one hour and fifteen minutes of having the choirs altogether,” he shared.
Cords has been enjoying his time in Springfield. In many ways, the town of over 2,000 people has many similarities to our home here in Janesville. Compared to the band program at JWP, the choir program at Springfield has thrived, with the Tigers’ band program on the rise, as is the Bulldogs’ choir program.
Although he loves his community, he hasn’t forgotten his hometown. When prompted to share what he’d like to say to everyone back home in Janesville, he answered this:
“Thank you for giving us a chance and for supporting us. Our grade, especially…went through a lot of band directors. I remember that at any musical, the community support showed up (especially Renae Groskreutz and her sister), supporting us and laughing even when the music wasn’t the greatest. In a small town, if the community doesn’t support a school, nothing good will happen. So, to everyone in both Springfield and Janesville, thank you.”
