Title: Music Enrichment Teacher
Company: Judson Fundamental Magnet Elementary
Education: Master’s Degree in Music Education, Centenary College (2018);
Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance, Grambling State University, Grambling, LA (2010)
Career History: Founder, Cemitone Music and Arts Inc. (2021-Present);
Music Enrichment Teacher, Judson Fundamental Magnet Elementary (2017-Present);
With, Caddo Middle Career and Technology School, Shreveport, LA;
Itinerant Band Director, Oak Park Elementary School (Two Years);
Substitute Teacher (One Year)
Arcemio T. Smith, Music Enrichment Teacher at Judson Fundamental Magnet Elementary, has been recognized as a Marquis Emerging Leader for their contributions and achievements in the field of education.
An accomplished musician from a young age and a natural educator, Mr. Smith combines his passions to bolster creative talent and energy in students spanning various ages. Since 2017, he has excelled as a music enrichment teacher at Judson Fundamental Magnet Elementary in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he was recognized as Teacher of the Year in 2021. That same year he also founded a nonprofit after-school band program for fourth through eighth graders called Cemitone Music and Arts Program, Inc., where he teaches wind instruments, including the flute and trumpet. In addition to his primary services, he provides piano accompaniment to Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church, plays the baritone, trombone, and euphonium, among several other instruments, and produces music for singers.
Prior to these appointments, Mr. Smith gained experience as a substitute teacher for a year, served as an itinerant band director at Oak Park Elementary School for two, and was affiliated with Caddo Middle Career & Technology School. In preparation for his professional journey, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Grambling State University in 2010 and both a master’s degree in music education and teaching certification from Centenary College in 2018.
Born and raised in Shreveport, he had an early interest in music and took piano lessons; outside of developing his love and abilities as a pianist, he gravitated toward the idea of teaching when his own teacher philosophized that “it is doubtful” one has playing skills if he or she is unable to explain them. A faith-driven man, he believes his skills as a player and ability to pass his expertise down to the next generation are God-given gifts. He also had a strong support system in his parents and similarly creative brother, a playwright with screenwriting aspirations—while Mr. Smith strives to one day create the scores for films.
In the midst of teaching at Judson, he often thought of his longtime dream to own and operate his own music school, which he was ultimately able to organize and put into motion over the course of quarantine. The launch of the Cemitone Music and Arts Program has been a crowning achievement in his extremely productive career. Looking toward the future, he strives to acquire a proper building for the nonprofit and advance to an administrative position at the elementary school, as well as producing more music and playing at events.