SPRING HILL, Fla. — Beethoven once said music can change the world.

This week's A+ Teacher is using it to teach life lessons and responsibility.

And Michelle McCarthy has been keeping the music playing throughout the pandemic.

"Music is one of the things that makes us human,” said McCarthy, the director of bands at the Challenger K-8 school in Spring Hill.

Her Hernando County students play with pride and confidence.

"I try to be as positive as I can and even when it sounds like dinosaurs, it's still amazing,” she said. “I'm jumping up and down because I'm legitimately excited that they made a sound on their instrument, and I know that after that initial sound, we can mold it to something beautiful."

The band room is covered with student achievements.

And they just received a prestigious award from the state for superior ratings.

"It's amazing when you walk into her room, I can just sit and observe her,” Said Challenger K-8 Principal Rosemarie Maiorini. “She can hear the littlest thing and correct it instantly. It becomes a great family, the band and the whole aspects of the band have become a great family."

McCarthy started playing music and tutoring children when she was young. 

"I came from really rigourous band programs," she said. "We had to learn time managment. We had to learn how to be a respectful person."

And to keep playing during the pandemic, McCarthy had to come up with new safety solutions to protect her students. 

"This grandmother, she made 90 face masks for my students. So it's got a flap and it has a hole for their mouthpiece to go through so they can wear this mask while they play."