August 15, 2019
Cody Dixon decided to share his passion for music. While majoring in Music at the College of Charleston, Dixon began dedicating his time to summer camps and programs where he had the opportunity to teach music to children. Dixon quickly became inspired by the gratitude he received from students and decided to take it one step further by developing a non-profit idea focused on providing music education resources. Soul Power Productions was born.
“The big thing is teaching music to kids. I teach the production side. Recording, songwriting,” Dixon shared. He credits the “jump off” of Soul Power Productions and his teaching career to the summer of 2017 when he traveled to Dakar, Senegal to teach music and production at the IQRA academy. The positive experience left him eager to return to Charleston and continue providing opportunities for more students to learn about music. It’s no surprise that Dixon decided to join the classroom, explaining that the feedback and reactions from his students were the ultimate deciding factor, “I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.”
Dixon will be sharing his talents and further inspiring students beginning this August at Meeting Street Elementary @Burns where he will be teaching music. You can learn more about Soul Power Productions here and his journey to teaching below.
Who was your most influential teacher in school and why?
Mr. Bodell. He was the first English teacher who made it and fun and interesting for me. He had us reading cool stuff and got us engaged. He was my first formal male teacher. It was in third grade, I think.
What was your favorite recess activity and why?
Kickball. That was my jam.
Where did you grow up?
I’ve been in Charleston for awhile, but I was born in Florence, South Carolina. I lived in Chicago, DC, North Carolina. I moved a lot as a kid, but most of my time has been in Charleston. I grew up here.
What was your favorite book growing up?
The Magic Tree House series.
What school lunch did you look forward to?
It was the square pizza. On special days, we had the extra cheesy pizza.
What advice would you give your elementary self?
Don’t take everything so seriously. You grow up and see how little things don’t matter.
Favorite subject in school?
Music.
What made you choose your alma mater?
I chose College of Charleston because it was close to home. I went to Florence initially, but I gravitated towards CofC. I had never been downtown and experienced that part of Charleston before.
What’s an item on your bucket list?
I would like to climb a mountain. I’ve been getting into camping recently and would love to get more involved stuff with that.
Since you’re a teacher, what’s your Starbucks order?
Caramel Macchiato. Iced.
What piece of advice would you give to those trying to decide if a career in education is right for them?
I would say to get involved in any way you can. If you show interest in the kids and show that you want to be apart of that community and teach, then it’s very welcoming. In my circumstances, it happened so naturally. I was always thinking I would just do private lessons or summer camps, but then I decided to pursue teaching full time. It was a shock that I decided to go into teaching, but I am happy to continue to do what I enjoy and share it with the kids.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
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