Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch honors its Teacher of the Year


Nicholas Haas, the Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch Teacher of the Year, is a longtime guitarist who has parlayed his passion for music into a career in teaching.
Nicholas Haas, the Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch Teacher of the Year, is a longtime guitarist who has parlayed his passion for music into a career in teaching.
Photo by Vinnie Portell
  • East County
  • Schools
  • Share

Nicholas Haas struggled to relate to his students when he first became a music teacher.

A guitarist who grew up as an admirer of the Beatles and played in the jazz band at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, Haas found that the music he relates to doesn’t resonate with young students today. 

However, that’s no longer an issue for Haas, who won the 2024-25 Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch Teacher of the Year in a vote of his peers.

“I’ve had a lot of transition,” said Haas, who used to play local gigs and give private guitar lessons before becoming a teacher. “Just because you are a good musician doesn’t mean you can necessarily teach music. My first few years were really challenging. When I taught guitar it went pretty well, but everything else was challenging. I’ve had to learn how to manage a class of 20 and keep them engaged and keep them on task. 

“Sometimes with music, kids get really riled up and excited. Then they get over excited and see, ‘Oh, Nirvana smashes their guitar,’ and things like that. Sometimes it’s like organized chaos. I try to get them exposed so they can try all of these different things.”

Nicholas Haas still plays gigs at local establishments when he's not teaching music at Imagine School of Lakewood Ranch.
Image courtesy of Nicholas Haas

Many students want to practice music with the songs that top the charts.

Some popular requests that Haas hasn’t been able to accommodate have been ‘Fe!n’ by Travis Scott featuring Playboi Carti and the discography of YoungBoy Never Broke Again.

Songs like that can’t be used in a school setting, but Haas has found a compromise that works.

Songs by Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and ‘Blinding Lights’ by the Weeknd are some examples that are suitable for children and keep them excited about showing up to class.

“I’m still stuck in the 50s or the 60s,” Haas said. “I like all music, but I don’t really listen to current music unless the kids ask me to. They keep me young in that way.”

Haas has worked at a number of schools in the state, including Blackburn Elementary, Manatee School for the Arts, Braden River Middle and Imagine School at North Manatee before arriving at Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch.

At one stop, he said he had a student who often skipped their classes throughout the day, but would show up for music class.

“There was a student who told me, ‘The only reason I come to school is to be in your class,’ so that was cool,” Haas said. “That kid was skipping school for most of the day, but then would come to the last period for my class, and they’d be like, ‘What’s that kid doing in here? He hasn’t been here all day.’ 

“So they made a deal with the kid to get him back on track, and that was satisfying.”

Haas said he warms up his students with body percussion sounds that can be made by tapping their legs and shoulders and stomping their feet to create a beat.

Then, he puts instruments in their hands.

He said he uses fun activities, like a beat-based ‘Among Us’ game – a popular deduction game among kids – to spark interest. Using those motivations and interest points, he’s been able to introduce some more traditional music lessons.

Sign Up for In Case You Missed It

A Saturday dose of the week's top stories from Sarasota, Longboat Key and East County.

“One day in the cafeteria the kids started singing (Last Christmas), and I was eating my lunch and I heard them singing,” said Haas, who leads students in musical performances for a holiday show and a springtime show.

Haas has also had members of the Sarasota Opera come to Imagine School of Lakewood Ranch to perform and expose kids to a different kind of music than they’re used to. 

Though opera music isn’t met with enthusiasm by many younger students, that wasn’t the case. 

“Our students were able to apply simple concepts as far as music literacy, beats per minute, and the history of opera,” Imagine School of Lakewood Ranch Principal Ashley Allen said. “It was amazing to see my eighth graders not roll their eyes when the opera singers were singing. Because here it is, I have opera singers and pre-teens, and they were actually really involved.”

Haas initially came to Florida to follow his parents, who moved to the area. He started playing gigs at local restaurants and offered private guitar lessons, mainly for beginners. 

When the summer arrived, however, much of that work dried up – leading Haas to explore how he could find a more stable job that still allowed him to use his passion for music.

In the years since, he’s carved out a career worthy of recognition. 

“Mr. Haas not only takes his music theory and instruction seriously, which he’s very passionate about, he thoroughly enjoys every moment delivering that passion to the kids,” Allen said. “That’s really the primary reason that made him so perfect for this year’s Teacher of the Year award for our campus.

“It’s really the best of both worlds. He gets to work with kids and teach them about something he loves. It’s amazing.”

 

Latest News

Sponsored Content