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Michael Jackson's first music teacher reunites with family at school dedication
"I taught him 'Climb Every Mountain' from the 'Sound of Music' and later he did," Michael Jackson's first music teacher Anita Hill said. "That's what started it. I was his
"Michael Jackson's first music teacher in kindergarten recognized immediately he was a prodigy.
Anita Hill, who jokes that people already know her name, put the future "King of Pop" in a choir with older students. She also taught a few of his siblings from the Jackson family that lived in Gary's Midtown neighborhood.
She reunited with the Jackson family Saturday at Lake Ridge New Tech Middle School, which dedicated the “Jackson Family Visual & Performing Arts Wing."
"I taught him 'Climb Every Mountain' from the 'Sound of Music' and later he did," she said. "That's what started it. I was his first music teacher. It was unbelievable how one song did all of this."
She taught Michael Jackson when he was a student at Garnett Elementary School in Gary. His musical talent was immediately apparent.
"The principal told me I had a music program. I had to listen to every student in the school singing. And I heard his voice and I put him on the PTA program. The parents had never heard anyone sing like that. They heard him sing and then he started singing with his brothers. I was his very first music teacher.
Hill also taught Marlon and Randy at Garnett Elementary. She put Michael Jackson in a choir with fifth and sixth graders because he could sing.
He was a little kid but could remember every word you gave him to sing. There was never a discipline problem with him or his other brothers," she said. "I feel good something became of my strictness and how they cooperated. It's good to see that other people listened to him and learned step and dance and everything. I was just happy that I was the one who discovered his voice." People have asked her how she picked him out.
People have asked her how she picked him out. "You couldn't miss his voice. It was so rare and unique and strong. He didn't need a mic," she said. "He had perfect pitch. Little kids don't stay on pitch. But if I hit a note, he hit it. He would volunteer. I asked who would sing for us and his hand always went up first. He wasn't shy and he wasn't bashful.
She taught him for a year and also had him in choir after school every day during the week. "I had him during the rehearsal days. He would stay after school and practice," she said. "The choir would sing for other organizations, churches and the city. He was the leader because he was little and he could move. He was the only little kid I had that could do all that. He was a natural talent.
She realized what a talent he became after hearing him sing the "Climb Every Mountain" song she taught him on the radio. "When you're a teacher you teach hundreds and hundreds of kids," she said. "I picked him out of all those kids. Nobody else could sing like that. Nobody else had that clear a pitch. He could sing high and low. It's rare. A lot of kids can sing and not dance but he could do both.
She taught him "The Star-Spangled Banner," nursery rhymes like "Hickory Dickory Dock" and classical music. The choir would perform "The Nutcracker" every Christmas. "
He was just in the process of learning academics. I told him in order to keep performing in my choir he had to perform well in his classes," she said. "It made him go study. He got really into it then." Jackson was about five or six years old, just starting school.
"He always raised his hand to sing," she said. "He had the ambition. I think he was a born talent, I really do. He wasn't bashful. No kids would volunteer except Michael. His hand would be the only one to go up. He inspired the other kids to volunteer. It was an encouragement to them. So I really enjoyed him, definitely."
She always told her students in future years what it was like to teach him. One class forgot her name and just referred to her as "Michael Jackson's teacher." "I don't think they knew my name. It was a part of my life that I'll always remember that he was an encouragement to people," she said. "People from the inner city know him. Yesterday I was over at his house and people from Canada and other cities were out there performing in the streets. He encouraged other kids to study and learn. They did because of Michael. They saw what you could become."
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