After you walk down the familiar stairs of Bliss, worn from the shoes of thousands of students and teachers across the decades, you eventually reach the first floor — the language corridor. There lie the offices of the language department faculty, as well as the classrooms where so many other avid Spanish students have managed to pick up the language after just a couple of hours of immersion per week. In the corner of the Spanish office is where students can find beloved Spanish teacher, Head of the Language Department, and talented musician, Profe Jay Waltmunson, — referred to by his students as Profe Jay — who is, unfortunately, departing Lakeside this year and opening up a new chapter in his life.
Profe Jay joined the Lakeside community six years ago, where he split his time between the Middle and Upper School. He worked to keep language classes both educational and fun, and as he was reflecting on this, he said, “When I’ve seen everybody get in on a song they’ve really enjoyed, it’s pretty amazing to watch. Some other fun moments were some dance-offs we’ve done in Spanish class. Seeing everybody being super inclusive and having fun with language is amazing, because that’s really what language is about.” He also reminisces about other fun memories he’s had, noting especially that he has watched his previous students from the Middle School grow up and come out of their shells to go on stage and perform, which was an incredibly special moment for him. Some other great memories from Lakeside (which some readers may remember) include eating fried grasshoppers with students, backpacking with students on the Olympic peninsula, GSL travel to Tijuana and to Costa Rica, dancing with students in the classroom, and lots and lots of language learning games.
Throughout his time at Lakeside, Profe Jay has been vocal about his support for better planning for teacher salaries and class budgeting to help faculty in their everyday lives and in their teaching. He noted in an interview with Tatler, “A big problem that we had until Mr. Bocuzzi showed up and did a lot of listening is that every year, we weren’t sure if we were going to be full-time or part-time. And that made it really difficult for teachers to plan their lives. For example, the school would count how many kids are in the classes and then, based on the number of kids, they would pay you more or less. A concrete solution to this problem was something that I helped fight for, and through Mr. Bocuzzi, the administration made a policy change where year to year, they’re guaranteeing our salaries. I’m really proud of that, and I feel like the language department has a much higher morale because of that.” Going forward, Profe Jay hopes to see better budgeting for the language department because having holes in the language levels, like not having Chinese I for a year, causes more problems further down the line.
After sharing his long-standing work for both students and faculty at Lakeside, this prompts the question: Why did Profe Jay leave, and what will he be doing after Lakeside?
He notes that “Lakeside is very good at reminding students to be aware of what their values are. It’s forced me to also figure out what I care about in my life, what I prioritize, what I value, and how to act on those. Education is definitely a value, but so is family and my daughter and my music. So, I want to find a way to create some more space for those things, and I’m proud that Lakeside has given me both awareness and courage to step away.” So, Profe Jay and his wife have decided to dedicate more time to their aging parents. The family has five parents over the age of 75 living in multiple states, so they aim to build a life in which they can spend longer periods both in Seattle and in all these other states.
A lesser-known fact: Profe Jay has a band! He had really enjoyed music in high school, and he wrote many songs and played the drums. However, the band didn’t start until much later on. In 2016, Profe Jay started his band, “The Brooders,” with a friend, Matt Galloway, who moved to Seattle from Oklahoma. Why did he come back to music? He realized that, after working in corporate tech for ten years, he was missing music. He began to become more and more aware that it was a value, and decided to make time again for it in his life. At this point in his life, Profe Jay had written many songs: several from his time in high school, but much of it came out of his time in Spain, stemming from his experiences living in Bolivia and in the Peace Corps, and living in Colorado after college, working on a ski lift. When he kicked off his band, most of his music fell under the category of singer-songwriter, which is a genre characterized by introspective and personal lyrics. So, with his music, his bandmate, and a rekindled passion for music, Profe Jay started playing open mic nights, with himself singing and playing guitar, and Mr. Galloway on drums.
Over the next few years, Profe Jay continued to build on his music and band, stating, “I enjoy hearing my songs transform with more layers, so we added a bassist and guitarist. Today we also have a co-singer and a keyboard player!” He continued on, saying that over the years, he found that his real drive and passion around music is songwriting, and ever since adding another vocalist, the band has shifted from a singer-songwriter kind of folk rock to more of an alt-rock or alt-country, with the band dubbing this genre “Northwest Americana.”
When talking about his tracks, Profe Jay remarks, “We also have a guitarist named Pete, and he does phenomenal guitar solos. So, whenever we play live and on records — we’ve got about four albums out there on Spotify — there’s always this wicked guitar solo.” His music can be found on other streaming services as well, and he often plays live at venues such as the Sunset Tavern, a well-known music venue in Ballard, where he’s built up a small following over the years, even selling out a few times earlier this year.
If readers are having trouble choosing between the vast selection of music the Brooders have in store, you can rest easy — Profe Jay has recommendations! Listeners looking for a serious song could listen to “If Only.” For a more fun song, listeners can try “Jedi Gospel,” which is about what would happen if you woke up as a Jedi. “I wrote that song and played it at a preschool because I knew the kids all liked Star Wars,” Profe Jay reminisced. “And then, my band played it at [Lakeside] Middle School, and it was a big hit.”
Overall, Profe Jay is incredibly grateful to have been part of the Lakeside community, and he looks forward to hearing about all the amazing adventures and impact that students have. Profe Jay caps off his time at Lakeside with a message to students: “We all experience fear, whether or not it’s where we’re going to go after Lakeside, where we’re going to live, or whether or not we’re going to get into that major in college. I think that when you put yourself out there and if you embrace the ‘well, what if it works out?’, more often than not, you find that it does work out.”