Teachers - You Never Know Where Your Influence Ends...

This entry is the result of an assignment from one of the classes that I am taking to get my principal licensure.   Thought you might like to take a look...esp. high school classmates!

                When reflecting upon the leaders that have been influential in my life, fortunately, a number of people come to mind.  There are the obvious leaders of my parents and even parents of some of my high school friends.  In addition, being in the business of education and specifically music education where it is so important to be up-to-date and aware of new ideas within the content area, I have a number of friends and colleagues who have been influential to me professionally and personally.  However, through all of these relationships, I consistently come back to one person who has been a leader for me since I was in the 8^th grade.  This person is my band director and his name is Don Jenkins.

                Don came to Troy when I was in 8^th grade.  By this time, I had been in band since 5^th grade and was learning quite a bit about music and band.  The previous band director, Chris Rowe had moved to Alabama and Troy hired Don to work in tandem with the other main band director of the district, John Slonaker.  Being that John was the music department head and had other responsibilities in the district besides band, Don’s assignment was all of the junior high bands as well as high school band.    

                The first performance I remember with Don was a fall activity in which the band played in the stands at one of the junior high football games.  It was a very big deal (especially to junior high students) and Don hyped it up even more.  I remember feeling especially proud that I was part of something that was fun and good (as an aside, I even remember playing our junior high fight song “Stand Up and Cheer” and “Windy”).  From that time, I was totally hooked.  Not only to band as I began to bond with many friends in this activity (there were approximately 30 people from my elementary school alone), but also to Don as a teacher.  He made it fun, but there was always hard work involved.  He wouldn’t accept mediocrity and demanded that we do things over and over again until “we got it right”. 

                The example of his work ethic and insistence on success influenced me greatly.  I learned as a teenager that it was important to always put forth a good image and to make sure that I continued to work hard to be successful.  From Don, I learned that success could be achieved through hard work.  This example reminds me of a quote that someone recited to me through the years that was “I might not be able to out-smarter my enemies, but I can definitely out-work them”. 

                During high school, I spent as much time as possible in the band room.  I arranged a study hall so that I could go to the band room to practice, help with music filing and honestly, just hang out.  In the fall, we had band practice right after school.  Even though I frequently left practice early to play/practice high school volleyball, I always found myself back in the band room at the end of practice to see who was there, what the plans were for the night, etc.

                High school was a particularly rough patch for me as I suppose it is for most teenagers.  I thought my parents didn’t love me (which of course wasn’t the case), experimented with hazardous behavior and was pretty miserable for most of my sophomore and junior years.  It was during this time that Don was definitely influential in my life.  I had the discipline and connections of band, the love of music and friends throughout band, but Don was always there double checking on me.  I remember that one time near the end of my junior year he called me to his office.  I obediently appeared and he proceeded to let me know that he had heard some bad rumors about me and he was concerned for me.   He suggested ways that I could get help and encouraged me to better decisions.  He also confirmed to me that he cared about me and that he wanted the best for me.  It was this small 5 minute conversation that began to turn my life around.  As I entered my senior year, I was more focused on school, making good decisions and planning for my future.

                Approximately around January of my senior year, I was trying to figure out what I would like to study in college.  No one in my family had been to college, so I was treading on unknown ground and was not quite sure what I wanted to do.  The “D” I received in chemistry class as a junior was confirming to me that my quest to become some type of doctor was probably not a great option, but I was struggling as to what I should do.  Again, Don’s interest in me helped to shape me and my future.  Don had asked if I would like to become a music teacher.  While I definitely had an interest in music and had enjoyed my time in band, I hadn’t really considered a career in music.  Don encouraged me to take private lessons, attend solo and ensemble and eventually apply at Morehead State University (again another suggestion by Don after I had expressed that I didn’t want to follow my high school friends to Bowling Green State University or be a number at a large college like Ohio State).  I applied at Morehead, auditioned (with the accompaniment and ride by my high school Orchestra teacher Jane Stuart) and was given acceptance (complete with a music scholarship and grants).  I also auditioned and was accepted at Otterbein in Columbus, but from the minute I stepped on Morehead’s campus to audition, I knew I was in the right place.  Again, Don was helping to lead me to good decisions and a career.

                Don has always said that my class was a unique class and now that I’m a music educator, I am able to understand exactly what he meant.  My class got together at each other’s houses (garages or even barns) to play music together even during 8^th grade.  I vividly remember sitting at the piano with some of my friends from band playing “Seven Bridges Road” over and over again until we wrote down all of the notes (including the harmony) and then transferring that to our band instruments to be able to play it together.  We also played school songs, pep music and honestly, anything else that we could get our hands on.  We all had a connection through music and the love of music that was instilled in us by Don.  This connection is still very strong among us and new social networking technology has helped to make this even stronger.  In our mid to late 20’s we annually got together at Christmastime to celebrate friendship, talk about band and simply enjoy each other.  As we have grown into our mid-40’s and have growing families (and even grandchildren), we don’t get together like we used to, but we still talk electronically frequently and keep up with each other and our activities.  When we graduated there were 14 music majors in our senior class.  Seven of us actually graduated with music degrees while the others participated in music activities in college, but found that the rigors of music education weren’t for them.  Today, there are still two high school band directors, two general music teachers and one professional musician in our lot.  I think Don was very accurate in his estimation of my class and I now know that this type of group of students is very rare (I have been teaching 23 years and have never had a class like this). 

                As I began college, Don was always an advisor to me.  I called he and his wife frequently (and many times late at night) for help with music theory, band assignments and just overall friendship.  Both

of them were always there and never complained about the frequency or time of my calls. 

The search for a job once I had graduated, once again led me back to Don and Bonnie (his wife).  They suggested job openings and gave me encouragement to continue to apply for many schools.  Late in the summer (as far as band directors are concerned), a job opened at Covington High School in Ohio. The job seemed to fit me and was close to my parents’ house.  This seemed like a great opportunity for me if I could gain an interview.  I called Don and he called people that he knew within the district (he had taught there early in his career and still knew some of the administrators).  Soon, I had an interview and was offered the job.  We went to band camp only 5 days after I was hired (this IS NOT an ideal situation for a new band director).  Again, Don and Bonnie helped me write a show and prepare for my first introduction to music education.

                Since that time in 1988, both Don and Bonnie have been great colleagues, mentors and friends of mine.  Don has taught my students lessons and came to my aid as an assistant band director for almost a year when a very unfortunate incident occurred to one of my colleagues in October approximately five years ago.  Now, Don still helps me clinic my bands and helps my students to improve musically.  He is an advisor, a mentor and a friend.  His leadership that he has shown me for 30+ years has made me the person and the musician that I am today.  As I tell my students frequently, I do what I do not for me (although I enjoy it), but I do it for them (my students) because someone did it for me.

My ultimate reward in my career is twofold.  First, my hope is that my students continue to play, enjoy and appreciate music throughout their entire lifetime. Secondly, I hope that I can influence at least one student to enjoy education and music enough to continue the cycle that Don has begun.  Thank you Don Jenkins!