Partin Elementary’s music teacher says goodbye after 32 years

Editor’s note: An earlier headline for this article incorrectly said Robyn Samuelson was the only music teacher in Partin Elementary’s history. There was an additional music teacher for several years during a period of overcrowding. 

Music Teacher Robyn Samuelson likes to say she’s been teaching music at Partin Elementary School since “before there were bricks.”

And it’s true. Mrs. Samuelson, as she’s known at the school, started as a music teacher in North Dakota and moved to Florida because “you don’t have to shovel sunshine.” After a brief stint selling timeshares, she found she missed teaching and missed kids. 

So she started substitute teaching, and eventually was hired as the music teacher at Partin Elementary when it was under construction and students were taught in portable classrooms. After 192 student performances and 43 years as a music teacher (including all 32 years that Partin Elementary has existed), Mrs. Samuelson got an emotional sendoff into retirement last Thursday, May 16, that included the last performance she would lead for her students.

“This is my passion. This is my love. Partin will forever be my home,” Mrs. Samuelson said to a packed house at Partin Elementary’s cafeteria. “I know for sure I won’t make it through tonight without tears.”

She didn’t. And neither did many of those in the audience. 

Samuelson, wearing a maroon sequined jacket, sat in a yellow chair in front of the fifth-grade performers, directing them through the show, “American Dream,” like a conductor. Every kid was in costume – some as Civil War soldiers, some as colonists, some as native Americans. There was even an Abraham Lincoln in a stovepipe hat, and a Statue of Liberty in green foam.

The performance was about 35 minutes long, a compressed look at America’s history from founding to Revolution to the Civil War. There were choreographed movements and dances, solo musical parts, and featured snippets from the Declaration of Independence and excerpts from “The New Colossus,” the poem adorning the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal.

It ended with a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful” – to a rousing standing ovation from the audience. It was obvious the ovation wasn’t just for the children.

Afterward, a visibly emotional Mrs. Samuelson again took the microphone and started to speak.

“You’re the best, Mrs. Samuelson!” someone shouted from the audience. The audience erupted in cheers.

One student, Adrian Rivera – still dressed in costume – addressed the crowd after the show. He said Mrs. Samuelson told the students on the first day that they would be great “all-stars; the Partin Elementary mascot used to be the All Star. . He said all the students in the show were “perfect stars,” to cheers from the audience. “And give a big thanks to Mrs. Samuelson, because she’s the one who taught them all,” Rivera said. “Best music teacher. Best music teacher we could ever have.”

The audience roared, and Samuelson was handed a huge bouquet of flowers.

“That was – you had me crying,” Partin Elementary School Principal Martha Garcia said. “That was amazing. You all did just an amazing job. And I want to say what an inspiration you are, and what an inspiration you’ve been.”

Watching the show was Oviedo parent Jason LaChappelle, a former student of Mrs. Samuelson whose own children are students of hers. After the show, LaChappelle posed for a selfie with Mrs. Samuelson and his children. 

LaChappelle remembers doing musicals with Mrs. Samuelson and his sister at Partin Elementary.

“I was in Kindergarten here in 1994, and so yeah, I was in plays with her from kindergarten to fifth grade,” LaChappelle said. “And now my kids are here.” 

LaChappelle said Mrs. Samuelson has a passion for the kids, and it’s become more obvious to him now that he’s a parent.

“It’s almost like I get to relive it a second time, because they go here and Mrs. Samuelson is still here,” LaChappelle said. “It is kind of amazing. This is probably a rare thing that someone is an elementary school teacher for 25, 30 years. It’s remarkable.”

“She’s one of a kind,” he added. “We all are lucky to be in her presence, in my opinion.”

Over the years, Mrs. Samuelson has had former students, now adults, come up to her at Publix and tell her the lines from her elementary school play. She’s had students who have gone on to The Juilliard School to become professional actors and musicians. 

“Every kid gets a chance to get on stage,” Mrs. Samuelson said. “Every child felt like a star. Instead of just giving the kids who are musically talented (a chance to be in a play), I wanted to put every kid on stage. And I am very proud of that.”

But perhaps her greatest legacy is in her own children. Her daughter is a teacher at Partin Elementary, and her son is the worship leader at Lake Nona Methodist Church. When she retires, she plans to spend time helping raise her grandchildren. 

And, of course, substitute-teaching music when she’s eligible again. 

“If I could have been paid in hugs and smiles, I would have been a billionaire,” Mrs. Samuelson said. “That’s why I do it.”