Bragging!!

I had to include this in my "memory" book. I was a band geek in high school. While it was a public school, we had a really good program. Our director truly cared about the education and well-being of his students. Undoubtedly, he has provided many of today's middle school and high school bands with great directors. I cannot remember the count, but I can just about name 8 members of his band that have gone on to be band directors across the state, and country!

Fortunately, I made some life-long friends in band. Brenda was one of them. She's a couple of years younger than I am, but who'se counting??? Brenda worked hard, and despite a few obstacles, she went to college. I believe she completed more college than I did! I cannot remember if she got her masters or PhD. Currently, she is a band director at a local high school in our hometown. Brenda was recently awarded a very high honor, the Mr. Holland's Opus Award. As a result, the school she is at received funding for instruments and instruction that they would not have otherwise ever been able to come up with. The Opus award is one of the highest awards imaginable. She has done some UNBELIEVABLE things for that school and those kids.

To see a brief video, click here. This is soooo awesome!! Go Brenda!!


I'm so proud to know her. She is doing such fantastic things for those students. She has more than tripled the number of students. This school has never had a reputable band program. Now, they are nearing 100 members -- I think they may have been around 20ish when she started. (I realize that 100 is relatively small depending on where you come from, but we're talking an innercity, public school.) This past fall, we even saw her band perform at a football game. WOW -- they really looked and sounded good. I cannot wait to see her group perform again!