DaveBandColumn Sime BandChair

Iam truly blessed to be a music teacher. I love my job and I love working with students who enjoy making music happen. I have enjoyed opportunities teaching in isolated towns. I started my career in Ione, Oregon. There were 32 students in the high school. I taught everything from band to general music to vocal music. I was the town’s music teacher. Then I moved to Lakeview, where there were two music teachers in the district. We shared many of the teaching responsibilities. I have also taught in Redmond for 19 years. It is a larger district, with many elementary specialists, a vocal music specialist, and three full-time band directors. Because of these varied experiences, I am fortunate to have a broad perspective of the band world in our state.

In Oregon the number of band teachers is relatively small. The state’s geography tends to lead to a lot of separatism. I have heard too many stories from directors who feel isolated, overworked, and unappreciated. This leads to teacher burnout and, consequently, to good directors leaving the profession. We must do our best to support each other in order for all of us to be successful. There are many different places in Oregon where music happens—places that we need to keep in mind and pay attention to. We need to look beyond our own schools and communicate with other band teachers in our school district, our leagues, and in OMEA districts as well as throughout the state.

Let me expand on this. I highly respect the other band teachers in my district. We meet frequently to discuss band issues (and sometimes non-band issues). Without that interaction, each of us would probably be less effective as teachers. We attend each other’s concerts and enjoy spending time together afterwards. We share success stories and offer each other advice on making progress with students and music making. We share in each other’s success. We also regularly bounce ideas off each other. Topics range from schedule woes, to student management issues, to just about anything musical. In short, we have developed a strong support base.

I also enjoy spending time with the other band directors in my geographic area. I attend countless concerts at the other high schools and local community college. I am genuinely happy for each success the directors and their bands achieve. I send numerous emails to these colleagues to congratulate them on their successes. At our OMEA district meetings, we all share stories about the good (and not so good) things that happen. Even if we are complaining, it is a good continued on page 14