Celebrating Music and Teaching with Molly Wang
Archway Scottsdale May 8, 2025 -
At Archway Scottsdale, music is a bridge to wonder, growth, and discovery. And at the heart of the K-2 music program is Molly Wang, an amazing educator whose path to teaching and dedication to her students remind us why we celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week.
Originally from China, her real name is Shuang Gardner, but she changed it to Molly Wang when she came to America. Wang grew up immersed in piano study before expanding her expertise to other instruments. She says she chose teaching because she sees it as a “quite powerful” profession. “It’s inspiring the younger minds to grow intellectually,” she shared.
She brings a remarkable depth of experience and training to her role. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education, specializing in piano pedagogy, from the WuHan Conservatory of Music in 2010. She continued her studies with a Master of Fine Arts in Musicology, focusing on the History of Western Music, in 2013. After moving to the United States, she pursued a Master of Music Education at Arizona State University, graduating in 2017, and earned her K-12 music education teaching certificate from the Arizona Department of Education in 2018. Wang completed certifications in Steinhardt Kodály and Orff Schulwerk Pedagogy Levels through New York University.
Her teaching career spans general music, choir, piano, music history, music theory, and repertoire building. But what sets Wang apart is her deeply held belief that music is essential for engaging young learners. “I think music is like a universal language,” she shared. “If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk around, you can try to dance. I think all human beings are musical beings. Music is the best way to help kids to engage, to learn, to become the best version of who they are.”
In her K-2 music classes, students experience music as a full-bodied art. They sing, move, listen, and create. “When you’re doing singing and movement, you can feel the music, you can see it, you can hear it, you can sing it — everything as a whole being,” Wang explained. “As a human being, we can feel it better, and that’s usually what I teach in the classroom.”
Wang’s approach to music education perfectly aligns with the spirit of a classical education. She believes that while some may view classical education as overly traditional, it is, in fact, about providing students with the richest, most enduring materials. “Most important is what you feed them,” she said. “As a teacher, you can absolutely choose and use materials from classical music or from folk songs. There’s an endless amount of resources you can offer to them.”
Beyond musical skills, Wang believes that teaching has profoundly shaped her own life, helping her stay curious and joyful. “Sometimes being an adult, you are drawn into everyday life and you kind of forget to be curious about things around you,” she reflected. “You will have so much fun with your students. What even amazes me is how much you can see the growth when one person makes up his or her mind. That’s always surprising to me.”
As we honor the dedicated teachers at Archway Scottsdale during National Teacher Appreciation Week, we celebrate Molly Wang for her unwavering commitment to her students, her art, and the enduring belief that music makes all of us more fully human.
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