With the effortless movement of his fingers from string to string, note to note, English teacher Paul Wack relaxes at home while playing the banjo. His left hand is stretched across the fingerboard of one of his two fretless banjos while the fingers on his right hand are quickly arppegiating across the five nylon strings. The Bluegrass tune he plays soothes him after a long day at work. It lets him unwind and ease any stress built up from earlier in the day. He plays every note, accented, and dynamic in the song with ease and perfection making the piece sound as crisp and clear as a bird’s song.

Wack grew up in a small town called Wheeling, West Virginia that currently has 25,000 people living there. As a child, Wack, was free to find things to do in his neighborhood with his friends at his own will.

 “It was in the days where parents didn’t worry so much about their kids safety,” he says.

 As he grew older, his brother played music with his friends, who then influenced Wack to learn as well.

Wack picked up the banjo at the age of 17. Throughout his many experiences, ups and downs, he believes his greatest experience is playing with other people. He enjoys just sitting down, relaxing and playing music with friends. Everyone knows the songs, and they just sit and play. It’s very peaceful.

“It’s an instrument that after playing a while, it makes you feel better,” says Wack. “After playing for a while it makes me feel good.”

It also makes other people feel good when playing it. English director and teacher Sanlida Cheng said, “I saw Paul play banjo at an awards ceremony. The audience was mixed; there were students, parents, and young children. I think everyone enjoyed the performance.”

As a teacher, students enjoy Wack’s classes. He challenges students to think for themselves and not the way others want them to. Also, he cares about the success of his students and tries to get to know them better as a person.

“He is laid back. He’s very humble and understanding. He never acts as if he’s better than his students and he offers help when it’s needed,” says junior Bill Pendavinji.

Now, Wack tries to incorporate his banjo playing with his English classes. A few times a year he brings his banjo in to play for his classes. He likes to demonstrate what a banjo is and teach people where it came from.

“I bring it to play for my students because a lot of them have never heard or [even] seen one actually,” he said. “Then, I like to give a little lesson on the history of it, where it came from.”

Due to Wack’s unique teaching style. Students remember the things he has taught them, such as how a banjo is stringed or what the instrument is made out of.

“He taught us about [how] the first string on a banjo [is the highest] followed by the lowest and a slightly higher one and so on,” says Pendavinji.

Currently, Wack owns three banjos. One is a fretted banjo, built by a man named Bart Reiter with five strings made out of maple and has steel strings. He also has two fretless banjos, both with five nylon strings. One is a replica of a civil war era banjo with body and neck is made of oak. The replica was built by a man named Jeff Menzies. His last banjo is what is called a mountain banjo. It has a walnut neck and it was built by a man named Nate Calkin.

“You can ask a musician that has been playing the same thing, the same instrument for 30 or 40 years. You would think they’d get bored with it, but most musicians would say no. It’s what they love to do,” he says

At ever chance he gets, Wack plays his banjo. Whether it be for other people, relaxation, or enjoyment, he loves it. That’s what he believes drives other musicians as well. You would think after about 35 years of playing, he would be bored and ready to skydive or go rock climbing, but no. Even though it is just a hobby, Wack never got bored with playing the banjo and it seems like he never will. He’s been discouraged by other musicians who are better than him, but he remembers, he’s just playing for fun. He knows he would have never met some of his musical heroes if he did not play the banjo, or even give up the banjo. Music takes you places.

“I wouldn’t have been able to meet and talk to my musical heroes if I did not play the music myself. It helped me meet a lot of great people in my life. Some include those that I’ve taught as well,” Wack says.