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“GMS,” Greg Michael Schuh’s email signature begins, followed by, “Musician, Teacher, Fix-it guy, Adventurer.” He’s known as a few other titles around Friday Harbor, too – Band Director at the high school and middle school, co-owner of Fox Cove Creative shop, handy-man to those who might need it, and soon-to-be director of the community choir, San Juan Singers.
Schuh’s most constant job, though, and the one that weaves its way through all of his other titles, is that of father.
“What’s really cool about our life here is that almost all of this stuff involves the family in some way,” he said about his busy schedule. “My kids are involved in my program at school, I’m doing Fox Cove with my amazingly creative wife Randi, both of my kids will be involved in the jazz groups next year, and Randi is hoping to sing with the choir. I’ve worked hard to build a life for my family here where each of our lives, passions, and goals can intersect while still giving us all space to explore.”
When Schuh met Randi, he was playing at a jazz club in the Idaho town she is from. He didn’t have anything to write her number on and ended up writing it on the head of his snare drum – a drum which hangs on the wall of his office almost 20 years later.
Before they met, doctors told Randi she’d likely be unable to conceive without intervention, but to their surprise she was pregnant soon after their wedding in 2008. Brennan joined the family in 2009 with Lillianne following close behind in 2010.
Schuh, who didn’t follow in the footsteps of his physicist engineer father in many ways, strived to emulate his positive, supportive parenting style.
“While I’m sure he would have loved to have a son that followed his footsteps into the sciences or tech fields, he never said a negative word about my lifelong dream to be a musician or my sister’s to be an artist.” Schuh remembered. “He did what he could to set us both up for success but always made it clear that we were going to have to be the ones to make it happen. And we did.”
Schuh has adopted that strategy as his own – providing the tools for success and setting up ideal circumstances for growth, but ultimately leaving it up to the kids. And he’s been able to use those strategies not just in the home, but also in the classroom as a band director.
“I get to spend my entire day making music, helping other people make music, and playing musical instruments,” he described. “It’s a pretty cool job – the kind of job where the day to day is usually enjoyable enough that it’s kind of amazing that I get paid to do it.”
His kids are in his classroom, sharing dad with the other students. When asked if that gets hard, it was an immediate no.
“I wouldn’t say so!” Lillianne, 14, said. “He’s a hard worker who is always looking for a task to help the community. Others enjoy working with him as well!”
His wife chimed in, too.
“I joke that Greg’s students like him because he acts like a kid himself. He is just a fun person to be around,” Randi said. “What people might not realize is how much emotional strength he carries behind the scenes. I’m grateful that Brennan and Lillianne, now on the edge of adulthood, have had the chance to witness their father navigate hard situations with calm grace, love and incredible resilience.”
She describes him as a father that kids—their own and his students—feel like they can open up to without judgment.
“He may not agree with them or like their decisions, and has no shame saying so,” she said, “but he can lead conversations and guide with love.”
Brennan, 16, said that his dad is a provider.
“He is constantly the glue that holds the rest of us together,” the teenager said. “He’s often the mediator whenever there’s drama.”
Schuh says he doesn’t really think of himself as a father-figure to his students, (maybe an eccentric uncle, he joked), but knows that many of his students over the years have lacked positive male role models in their lives.
He remembers his dad never calling attention to himself or telling people what to do – he just was who he was. He was confident his life and example would speak for itself.
“I think the same could be said of many of my teachers who had the greatest impact on me, regardless of gender,” Schuh said. “I suppose that’s what I try to do as well. Just be who I am, and hope it will be enough. I think examples in our world of positive masculinity are important and that male teachers like myself are in a unique position to demonstrate what that means to us. To me, it’s honesty, encouragement, patience, perseverance, selflessness, working hard, service to community and others, support through tough times, and long-term thinking.”
Lillianne, age 2, playing the piano
Brennan, Schuh, Randi and Lillianne
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