Wheeling Park High School’s Ben Podolski Joins Music Educator Hall of Fame
Emma Delk Trending
After nearly 40 years of teaching strings to students in Ohio County, Ben Podolski was named a Hall of Famer.
Podolski, known as "Mr. P" to his pupils, was honored Tuesday for his induction into the West Virginia Music Educator Hall of Fame. The award recognizes educators who have developed outstanding school music programs, made significant contributions to music education in the state and have a minimum of 15 years of music service in West Virginia.
The recognition was presented to Podolski by Marshall County Strings Teacher Justin Jones during the WPHS Strings Spring concert.
Podolski has built the Strings program from its start of six students.
Former WPHS Band Director Patrick Garrett, a longtime friend and collaborator of Podolski, gave a speech during the presentation, noting "There would be no strings program without Ben."
"When Ben was starting at Wheeling Park he was teaching at one of the middle schools," said Garrett. "He would come to Wheeling Park one hour beforehand to grab students and teach them in that hour before middle school began and that was the high school program at the time. He started building the program, and he worked with elementary and middle schools.
"I remember at one point he was teaching at every school in Ohio County, and he would go and visit every school," added Garrett.
Garrett noted there would also be no West Virginia All-State Orchestra Program or Festival of Sound concert without the creativity and tenacity of Podolski.
The former WPHS teacher then had the audience look around them, explaining that the Performing Arts Center would not exist without Podolski's efforts. This received a standing ovation from the crowd.
WPHS senior strings program members also shared their favorite memories of Podolski during the concert. Some had funny anecdotes from lessons with the teacher, others reminisced about Podolski's. Several students shared that they would not be in the orchestra today without Podolski's encouragement.
"One of my favorite memories was whenever I had to take a semester off Mr. P's class, and he would always tell me, 'You can't quit, you can't quit on me,'" said senior Alexander Evans. "He recruited me back into the strings program, which was very sweet."
For Podolski, hearing these memories from students reflected why he became a teacher in the first place -- not for the accolades, but for the kids.
While speaking before the final song of the concert, Podolski reflected on the start of his career at WPHS as a "very green" teacher who still wanted to be a professional player.
"After three or four years here I started to think, "I like this," and it wasn't something that I thought I was going to do with my life at first," recalled Podolski. "As I started spending more time with the kids, I realized this is what I'm supposed to be doing."
Podolski added that "sometimes it's not what I do for the kids, it's what they do for me," as the students have helped him grow.
"Through the years, I've had many, many memories with students, and I still have relationships with the kids I taught my very first year," said Podolski. "Those are the things you can't take away, and I hold deep in my heart forever."
The teacher recalled the first Festival of Sound he and Garrett put on at the high school's gym. Afterward, he described the three saying they should do the next Festival at the Capitol Theatre, joking that they had "no intention of ever doing that."
"Performing at the Capitol Music Hall was just something that we talked about, and it happened," said Podolski. "With this Performing Arts Center, we talked about it 16 years before it was even considered to be built.
"What I think I want my students to remember is the impossible only takes longer," continued Podolski. "If you really want something, you have got to work towards it and never give up. I think that's what happened here once I figured out this is what I wanted to do."