TAPinto New Brunswick's People to Watch in 2024: Jessie Mersinger

Dr. Jessie Mersinger is often called “Mersinger” by the 150 students who play cellos, trombones, and drums in the New Brunswick High School music program, never mind that doctorate she earned at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Inside this first-floor music room-turned-safe-haven for members of the jazz, concert, and marching bands, they try to explain what is so special about her that kids continue to sign up every week to be part of the music program.

“I’d say Mersinger is only strict with us when she knows we can do better,” senior Nicole Solis, who plays tenor sax. “She is the kind of teacher who is always there for you and she really cares.”

Or as junior De’Andrae Robinson put it, “They hear how good we sound and they hear what a great teacher and how she makes us feel comfortable. It’s very welcoming to students who want to join us.”

Word’s gotten around school that there’s something magical happening around “Mersinger,” one of TAPinto New Brunswick’s People to Watch in 2024.

“New Brunswick has always had that culture of music, but sometimes it’s like Cinderella: You gotta find the shoe that fits,” she said. “And I’m hoping I’m that shoe. I don’t know. I’m trying my best. New Brunswick has a history of being a great music program. When it got dissolved, it just took some rebuilding and finding the right people.”

The music department was dormant for decades until Mersinger came along. Baby steps – pretty literally – followed as the marching band, for instance, learned to play their instruments while standing in formation while wearing hand-me-down uniforms.

If there was a turning point in her first three years at the school, it came when the orchestra did a concert that was preserved on video because of one of the COVID-19 surges.

“They felt successful and they bought-in,” she said. “And then there was just so much growth over that spring semester. I was like, ‘Ohhhh, it’s gonna happen. This is going to be great.' ”

Great wasn’t a word she would have used to describe her playing as a high school kid growing up in Florida. She began thinking about devoting her career as a music teacher, but she got to college and realized how far behind she was.

She began attending the Florida Orchestra every weekend and practicing into the wee hours with others who were known as The Late Night Crew under teacher Andrew Carr.

She eventually could play concertos on her French horn, but teaching students to play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was daunting. That all changed when she spent time teaching at Grove Street Elementary School in Irvington.

She’s hit a high note at New Brunswick High School, with the support of Superintendent Dr. Aubrey Johnson and the Board of Education. The concert band recently played a concert with the Mason Gross band and the marching band this past fall won a competition for the first time.

The jazz band will be attending competitions throughout the spring and the marching band’s program has already been picked out. It’s a Latin jazz program that she performed in high school that was written by a late friend, Chris O’Farrell.

Music aside, she said the thing she’s most proud of is creating a place where students feel comfortable and happy.

“This music program is the heart and will be the heart of this district for a very long time,” Mersinger said. “I had kids who didn’t want to come to school, would always be late to school. And they were like, ‘I will pass, I will be there because I want to be in my orchestra class.’ I get emails, ‘Sorry, Miss, I’m really sick but I have my trumpet at home and I’m going to practice. I promise.’ This is what keeps these kids in school.”

Story Credit: Chuck O'Donnell
Photo Credit: TAPinto New Brunswick