Hans Christensen Middle School Music Teacher, Mr. Joseph Olivarez was recently honored by Arts Council Menifee as Artist of the Month. Here is an excerpt from an article in the Valley News: Having graduated from the University of San Diego, he chose to go straight into grad-school and was accepted into Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he focused on Music Education with an emphasis in composition.

Mr. Olivarez is always trying to give his students the best opportunity to give back to their community. During his first year of teaching at HCMS, he managed to provide the HCMS Jazz band with opportunities to play at the “MaryChrisMess House”, the Menifee 2017 Christmas tree lighting, as well as the “Breakfast with Santa” event held at the Kay Ceniceros Senior Center. His advocacy for the importance of community outreach certainly does not stop there.

Joseph played a critical roll in helping to make the 2018 Menifee’s Got Talent event a success. He was able to use his past experience with live sound to make Arts Council Menifee’s first event at HCMS an absolute success! Colleen Ackerman, Arts Council Menifee Trustee and organizer of Menifee’s Got Talent, had the following to say about Joseph Olivarez, “Joseph was absolutely wonderful helping us with Menifee's Got talent this year.  His high level of enthusiasm, can do spirit, and positive energy is only equaled by his expertise in sound and stage managing.  He helped make this year's MGT the most successful yet.   We are looking forward to working with him again in the future.”

When he isn’t teaching the next generation of musicians or helping with community events, Joseph enjoys practicing Jiu-Jitsu, spending time with his dogs; Fritz and Crosby, and preparing for the birth of his first child with his wife, Kialynn.