Tirelessly teaching and participating in many different bands in and outside of his job, Aaron Ottmar has successfully conducted his way through his first year here at City High.

“My first year was awesome, I really enjoyed all the opportunities that I was got that I was able to partake in. It was definitely a learning process, having to relearn everything again, though it was well worth it,” said Ottmar.

One of the greatest challenges that Ottmar has faced is trying to relearn some of the thing that he might of forgotten at his previous school, such as showing a passion for his job.

“I don’t ever want to find it a chore, I want to only see it as something that I love to do, because if I love doing it, I will do whatever it takes to keep it.” said Ottmar.

To achieve this there has been many different barriers that he must pass. He says that not being able to even know the names of his students and fellow teachers frustrated him. Fortunately, Ottmar has stated that now that he knows most of the students he certainly feels more comfortable going into this year.

For Ottmar, playing the music is very important, and he tries to play in many different groups outside of his job here. He has been playing percussion since his time as a student under Dr. McReynolds, and with that has been trying to play as much percussion as he can with other smaller groups such as Orchestra Iowa and Cedar Rapids Municipal Band.

Lastly, after last year, Ottmar has decided that he wants to try and help everyone in any ensemble with whatever they wish to achieve.

“I want to push all kinds of students as best as I can and help them with whatever they need.”