WAKE FOREST — Choosing a set list or a lesson plan are equally challenging for East Wake High School teacher Mary Catherine Johnson: It all depends on the audience.

Grammar concepts and literature texts that click for first-period class may not necessarily flick on the mental light bulbs for her second-period students. The same goes for her music. Covering the Beatles “Please, Please Me” may not quench the coffee house crowd’s thirst for somber, folksy tunes.

“You try and figure out who the room is,” Johnson said. “You just sort of have to figure out how to work it.”

While Johnson, 40, teaches ninth-grade English and Paideia at the Wendell school, she is also lead singer for Mr. Felix, an eclectic band whose music is peppered with jazz standards, ’70s pop rock, and her own deep-cutting poetic originals. She flashes a wide smile when mentioning her dual interests.

On a recent Friday, the band performed at The Well, a coffee and sandwich shop in Wake Forest’s historic downtown.

Singing is a “good way to let off some steam,” she shared, taking a break between sets as a florescent light illuminated their makeshift stage. And after a hard day’s work with 14- and 15-year-olds, it’s sometimes needed.

“It’s something about that particular age group. It can be frustrating and infuriating, but really be magical when you start seeing their minds (develop),” said Johnson, who’s in her ninth year at the school. "They are becoming young men and women before you. And that’s really, really interesting.”

Dr. Herman Norman, East Wake High’s principal, said Johnson plays a pivotal roll in the school’s future, such as her involvement with next year’s School of Integrated Technology. East Wake is splitting into four themed schools.

“She’s the cornerstone of our English department and one of the most reliable teachers we have on staff,” Norman explained. “She’s a very hard-working individual.”

Robert Woessner, lead guitarist for Mr. Felix, shared the same sentiments about Johnson’s music inclination, likening her alto voice to Karen Carpenter, a critically acclaimed 1960s-’70s singer recognized for her sense of pitch, control and melodies. He, however, likens Johnson’s sheer talent and desire to no one.

The band has recorded 40 original songs to date. “She’s essentially the creative force behind everything that we did,” Woessner said. “It’s all her creations.” While Johnson, he added, is soft-spoken and demure, “the stuff that flows from that mind never ceases to amaze me.”

That “stuff” has been kindling in Johnson since she can remember. “I’ve been singing as long as I’ve been talking. I used to stand in the middle of the living room and sing to records.”

Artists who inspired her included Julie Andrews, Karen Carpenter and jazz singers of the 1940s, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. But she models her soothing voice after no one.

“For singers and for speakers, you have to learn how to free your own voice,” Johnson said. “You literally have to learn how to breathe right. It’s something I’ve been striving for for years. When you sing, you try to be true and breathe and think about what you are singing about, relax and let yourself go.”

Singing, according to voice coach and former next-door neighbor Ben Johnson, is about reaching your audience. In this regard, his protege hits the high notes.

“A singer, because they are facing an audience and looking right at them, communicates with them even beyond the music,” he said. Jazz singer Billie Holiday, he added for an example, had many years of success for this reason, despite her fairly rough voice. “But everything she sang, she believed. And that’s true for Mary Catherine.”

“Lyrically,” Mr. Felix guitarist Woessner explained, “her songs ... are wonderful. They work on literal level, a figurative level and a spiritual level. They are literally all over the chart.”

The two began their professional relationship 12 years ago, when Johnson worked for The Wake Weekly, an award-winning newspaper in Wake Forest. In need of a singer for his novice band, Woessner wanted to place a classified ad. Needless to say, no ad was needed once Johnson answered the call. They have been performing together since, everything from political rallies to country clubs.

“It’s probably a vocation,” Johnson said with a laugh. “Your life might get in the way of it sometimes.”

At East Wake, Johnson’s classroom is both vivid in color and full of educational and philosophical messages, such as “Tempus fugit ... carpe diem” (Time flies ... seize the day.)

“You only come around once as far as I know,” Johnson said, flashing a subtle grin. In her students, Johnson wants to instill the importance of having an opinion, being committed to it and being able to “justify what they believe in.”

It’s about being “less passive in their learning,” she said, emphasizing that that is one of the benefits of next year’s School of Integrated Technology.

Johnson is known to her students and colleagues as “Miss Bunn” - Bunn being her maiden name. Years ago, Johnson explained, there were two ninth-grade English teachers, both with Johnson as their last name.

This might explain how virtually no one at the school knew about her side job when questioned — including a “shocked” Dr. Norman.

It’s no secret, Johnson declared. “I just find it very hard to toot my own horn.”