Years of students

Partly due to facebook and partly due to getting older, many of my former students have been getting in touch with me and saying hello. Some are in music, some are not. Many are now parents and meeting the obligations of families, paying bills, working, and being productive citizens. Some have remained single. All this to say they simply became people! Yes, of course they were people before, but in my role as a teacher, my responsiblity was to teach them the subject matter at hand, whether that be horn, band, conducting, composition, etc. But maybe, just maybe in the process of teaching the subject, we also learned about each other and learned how to be better musicians, to be better people, to be productive, successful, disciplined, organized, and compassionate.

And there is no doubt that I learned more and continue to learn more from my students than I have taught them. From my students I learned to find joy in others' success, to be sensitive, to understand, to see the world broadly, to respect all kinds of people, and to embrace our commonality as well as our differences. When I think back on Steven, Laurence, Kevin, John, and many others from the Louisiana days, I am hoping they are doing well. Great people and very focused on success. I also remember a talented young man named Chris and another talented young lady named Kristine. Both students of mine back in the 80s.

Then onward to Stanton, Texas where I became a band director and taught all the instruments. Along the way, I kept teaching horn and had several successful students such as Sally, Laurie, Misty, and Stephanie. Laura and Sande were great too not to mention the countless band students I taught such as Matt, Kenneth, Dustin, and Stacy. Amy came over from another school for lessons and occasionally there were drop-ins looking for a teacher. Those were some outstanding years of working with wonderful students. Kacie, Belinda, Matt, Jan, Jason, and Brandie were just a few of the wonderful students from those years.

Then my years at Howard Payne as horn teacher and band director where Kenneth grew to be one of the stars and is now a successful conductor. And of course Sally, Sam, Lydia, Alex, Kailey, Taylor, James, Crissy, Misty, Emily, Mary, and for a brief time Jeff, all great talents. In some ways Cara ended up being the top player since she now plays in the New York Philharmonic. Now a couple of bright high school students come to take lessons and I certainly expect great things from Cody and Karley!

Can't ignore all the band directors, elementary music teachers, choir directors, orchestra directors, pianists, and music ministers who were in my classes and who are now teaching and influencing countless lives. Preston is amazing and deserves accolades for his incredible teaching skills. But I am just as proud of Pedro, Rob, Shannon, Liz, Becky, John and Scot and Jason, Riley, Joe, and Michelle. Lacey was an awesome teacher and I suppose I can a thread of credit for Olivia's success.

But truthfully while my students mean everything to me, my success as a teacher is due to my own teachers, parents, and all those who helped me along the way. The list of teachers who made a difference in my life is lengthy including Kirke McKenzie, John Faraone, Mike Hatfield, Lawson Hager, Loyd Hawthorne, Lowell Greer, Orlando Calderon, Celeste Myall, Bill Woods, Dan McAlexander, Tom Lott, and of course my parents. Really this list could go on and on naming the many influences in my life. And I would suspect each person mentioned could mention several dozen teachers who influenced them. No teacher operates in a vacuum or on an island and the world remains interconnected through generations, history, and the future.

I give thanks to my teachers and I give thanks to my students. We have shaped each other and grown in the process. Sure there were challenges along the way but it was all worth the effort as we work together making a difference in lives.