Preparing for the big day: covering for a music teacher expecting a baby

ARHS music teacher Kara Kahgee Bear, 37, has been a teacher for 14 years in Amherst, and she works at both ARHS and ARMS. At ARHS, she teaches Symphony band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and a Steel Drums class, and at ARMS, she teaches 7th-grade Band and 8th-grade Band. 

However, when Bear was readying to take maternity leave on December 19, 2025, to welcome her first child (whom she referred to as Baby Bear) with her husband, Thurman “Blue” Bear, she and others also had to think of what her two-building sub coverage would look like.

Some of the students said they were sad to not see their favorite teacher for a while and nervous about having a music substitute. At the same time, they were extremely happy that she was ready to have her baby and looked forward to having him in the audience for future concerts. 

But how do the particulars of sub coverage work in a performance class? Bear said her Symphony Band is mainly made up of freshmen, and the Wind Ensemble is largely sophomores through seniors since it’s a more advanced class. These classes lead up to a grand final performance at both the high school and middle school, and preparing for a concert like that takes a lot of work.

“It starts with selecting the right repertoire to challenge and engage each different group,” she said. “Often students help with this by providing suggestions of what they’d like to play.” 

Bear was also worried that balancing a job at two schools might be a lot for a sub. “Most people are quite overwhelmed when you put them in front of almost 50 seventh graders with noise machines in their hands and then expect them to get ready to perform,” she said, noting moving between buildings is an added challenge.

Bear mentioned how the high school band groups are usually able to perform more because they are able to prepare faster for concerts, considering that they meet almost every day. The middle school band only has 2-3 rehearsals per week and a much wider gap in skill levels, which is why their concert preparation takes longer.

Most of her high school students have also known her since middle school, which has allowed them to create a strong bond.

A shared concern both she and her students had was that when she was gone, engagement might dip or preparation could slip. Pia Wise, a sophomore, hoped they would do “as much playing as a band or practicing pieces” as with Bear, and that students would stay committed.

Ella Wang, a junior, is one of the teaching assistants or TAs for Bear. 

Wang hoped to help keep the class on track and encourage students to keep practicing. “I think it’s going to take some work to adjust to a new teacher, and to transition between band directors, because the conducting style might be different,” she said. “They won’t know the individual players’ strengths and weaknesses at first.” 

However, everyone agreed that this was all worth it, and they were excited to keep up their musical education. 

Bear said she was excited and had high hopes for the person covering for her, and she was eager to meet her new child. As this story was readying for publication, The Graphic learned that Bear gave birth to Thurman Kiizhik Kahgee Bear on December 18 at 11:59 p.m. 

His name is pronounced “KEY-zhik where the zh is like the s in the word vision,” Bear wrote in an email to colleagues. “It means Cedar in Odawa Anishinaabemowin.”