Courtesy of Jon Jow

Jason Shiuan’s transformation from music student to director

Jason Shiuan graduated as part of the Class of 2011, but today he is known as one of the school’s most beloved teachers, acting as both the music department head and the marching band director, among many other roles. Unlike many teens, Shiuan said he knew what he wanted to pursue early on. 

As a rising eighth grader, he made the decision of wanting to teach music, and he has been committed to this decision ever since. 

A plethora of factors influenced his early decision, but one of the most prominent was the experience of Class of ‘02 alumnus Jon Jow, who has been teaching in Saratoga schools for 19 years and now serves as the lead music director at Redwood Middle School.

Shiuan learned the story of how Jow had finished his undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley while studying mass Communications/media studies but didn’t find his true passion until he was volunteering at the middle school and decided he wanted to switch career paths into music education.

“I thought about what Jow did, and I knew that I don’t really want to go to school for one degree, and four years of commitment later, decide that I want to go into another field instead,” Shiuan said. “I wanted to find something I could truly love.”

Shuian’s decision was also influenced by his older brother Kevin, who was choosing his degree and heading off to college the same year as Jow. Bioengineering was the popular path at the time, and the weight of that trend ultimately steered Kevin to select it as his major.

This didn’t feel right to Shiuan; he never really believed his brother would have any interest in bioengineering — even as a middle schooler, Shiuan found himself questioning the choice. The curiosity naturally led him to think about what he wanted to do with his own future.

Combined, these two experiences crafted a message to Shiuan, directing him toward the path he is on today.

He found that in music, which had been a staple of his entire childhood. He played the cello and saxophone in high school, even making the All-State orchestra as a freshman. 

But Shiuan’s interest in music wasn’t exemplary in all aspects. For one, he didn’t like practicing — a fundamental part of musical growth. However, Shiuan felt music was the one thing he was truly passionate about. 

“I think I was lucky in the sense that I grew up playing music from when I was very little. It was part of my life the whole time,” Shiuan said. “It became [the place] where a lot of my friends came from, and the community we established helped me become attracted to music.”

Teaching music was the perfect profession for Shuian; it allowed him to express and fully enjoy music.

From then on, Shiuan stayed true to his passion by choosing to study at Northwestern’s undergraduate music program. He worked with students at Lincoln Park High in Chicago and Skokie-Washburne Junior High in Winnetka after graduation, but was ultimately drawn back to his alma mater and the chance to work with his musical mentor, longtime music teacher Michael Boitz.

“There is something really special about the community and something about how tight-knit the school can be, which was one of the things that really drew me back,” Shiuan said. “When I was in college, I would talk to my friends about Saratoga, and they would look at me like I was crazy, because none of them felt that way about their high school.”

Being a former student establishes a unique mindset to Shiuan now as a teacher; he strongly empathizes with students dealing with academic pressure, using his own experiences to understand and support students facing stress. At the same time, Shiuan hopes he can help push back against misguided definitions of success common among today’s students.

Additionally, Shiuan has the unique opportunity of working with Boitz. According to Shiuan, having been a student of Boitz’s allows the two to have similar musical interpretations and teaching styles.

The teacher-student relationship also made the settling-in experience as a new teacher especially comforting to Shiuan.

“When I first started teaching, we didn’t need to figure each other out and figure out a way to gel,” Shiuan said. “For us, it was just an immediate click.”

To his students, Shiuan is an outstanding role model and an inspiring mentor. Many who stay in the music building’s office have built rapport with Shiuan, getting to know him as more than just a teacher. For junior Thomas Lung — who had been in both the orchestra and marching band program — Shiuan has had an undeniable influence on him as both a musician and a student.  

“Last year when Boitz went through surgery, a lot of the responsibilities lay in Shiuan’s hands,” Lung said. “The orchestra was preparing for the National Orchestra Festival, and the marching band had rough rehearsal schedules. Shiuan was unimaginably hardworking, leading both of these programs at the same time, while actually caring about the music experiences the students get.”

Also last year, Shiuan was awarded the Byron Hoyt/Don Schmeer Band Educator of the Year award for his contributions to the music program this year. The award is given annually to a band teacher in California after being nominated by a California Music Educators Association (CMEA) member, recognizing teachers for their excellence in instrumental education and performance.

Shiuan thinks his teaching comes down to his true passion for music but also it reflects in his dedication and desire to give back to the community where he grew up.

“Being a teacher allows me to share the same experience that I had,” Shiuan said. “I hope to give more students that chance to discover a passion in music as well.”