Rose Parade Highlights Dedication of Talented Music Educators

Happy New Year, one and all! One of my favorite activities on New Year's Day is to watch the annual Tournament of Roses Parade, whether in person or on television. I was born in Pasadena, and this unique, flower-inspired parade has always been very special to me. I have many happy childhood memories of standing on the curb on Colorado Boulevard to watch the spectacular floats, outstanding bands, and marvelous equestrian groups go marching by. This year, the theme of the parade is "Find Your Adventure." I was especially impressed with the many talented high school bands from all over the country that participated in this marvelous parade today. Let's pay tribute to them!

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Launching the parade was the Etiwanda High School Band, which hails from Etiwanda, California. The 200-member Marching Eagle Regiment performed under the direction of Jeremy Hackworth. Jeremy's students were teamed with Corporate Magic to present the opening act for this year's parade, performing a drill team sequence and original music composed specifically for the event. "These kids work so hard -- not just on the field, but also behind the scenes with their academics and their work schedules," praises Mr. Hackworth. This talented music director earned his bachelor's degree from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, and he is currently working on his master's degree..

Next, parade-watchers were treated to selections of Western-style music performed by the Wyoming All-State Marching Band, directed by Mr. Dan Holroyd. This accomplished composite band, based in Cheyenne, featured 301 students from 32 communities and 27 high schools from around the state. This was the thirteenth appearance of the band in the Tournament of Roses Parade. The students played popular compositions including "The Magnificent Seven," "Ghostriders in the Sky," and the theme from the movie "Blazing Saddles." Mr. Holroyd graduated from the University of Wyoming, and is employed as the Director of Bands at East High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

To continue, Director of Bands Blane Hinton led the brilliant Allen Eagle Escadrille hailing from Allen, Texas. The Escadrille claims to be the largest high school marching band in the United States, boasting a whopping 782 members. "Our philosophy here (at Allen) is we try to make sure that every student of ours gets the opportunity to participate in the marching program," explained Mr. Hinton. "Plus, the kids are just phenomenal." This amazing music director earned his degree at Texas Technical University.

Next came the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park Band. Directors David Armbruster and Jonathan Thomann led this accomplished band from Wayne County, Michigan. The band represents three comprehensive high schools: Salem, Canton, and Plymouth, which employs 350 teachers to serve 6,500 students in grades 9-12. This fabulous band has won over 500 awards in the past 16 years, and has performed before Presidents Ronald Reagan, H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Director of Bands Mr. Armbruster earned his bachelor's degree in music education in 2000 and his master's degree in 2005, both from Western Michigan University.

The Los Angeles Unified Schools All-District High School Honor Band. This 380-member noncompetitive band is comprised of distinguished student musicians from high schools throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District. The group has been marching in the Rose Parade since 1973. For the past three decades, this group has been marching under the able direction of Director Mr. Tony White. Mr. White worked as a music educator at John C. Fremont High School for ten years. Although he currently works as a professional jazz musician playing the saxophone and clarinet, he is still heavily involved with music and arts education, serving as the music and entertainment coordinator in the LA Unified School District. "The  challenge for me is maintaining both," he asserts. This chalkboard champion earned his bachelor's degree from University of California, Riverside, his teaching credential at Cal State Dominguez Hills, and his master's degree in educational leadership from Pepperdine University.

Hailing from Saratoga High School in the Silicon Valley in California, the 400-member Saratoga High School Marching Band and Color Guard performed under the direction of Michael Boitz. When Michael accepted his position as Music Department Chair at Saratoga High in 1997, there were only eleven students in the entire orchestra program. Fourteen years later, the department has expanded to hundreds of students, as you can see below. "I think it's an incredible testament to the dedication the community has in our kids," expressed Michael. "It's a testament to the support the community gives to the kids and the school as a whole." Named the 2013 Music Educator of the Year by the California Music Educators Association, Michael graduated magna cum laude from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and earned his master's degree at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

The next band to perform was the magnificent Jenks High School Trojan Pride Band from Jenks, Oklahoma, under the direction of Director of Bands Scott Hillock. "The program has grown and improved in the last five years," informed Scott. "Five years ago it had 112 band members and 12 color guard members. This year, it has a record 240 band members and 45 students in color guard," he said. Mr. Hillock earned his bachelor's degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and his master's degree from Southern Methodist University. He has been in charge of bands at Jenks since 2006.

Next, parade-watchers were treated to a performance by the Franklin Regional High School Panther Band. Led by Director Kevin Pollock, this amazing band from Murraysville, Pennsylvania, performed "Walking on Sunshine." The band this year has approximately 200 musicians, Pantherette dancers, majorettes, silks, and honor guard. "We are excited. We are proud to represent Pennsylvania in 'America's New Year Celebration,' " Mr. Pollock expressed. "We have a talented group of students who are looking forward to sharing their performance with the huge audience in Pasadena and the television audience around the world," he said. This talented educator earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has been the music director at Franklin for 28 years.

The 192 members of the Punahou Marching Band from Honolulu, Hawaii, marched under the direction of Mark Falzarano. Punahou serves students from kindergarten through grade 12, including alumni President Barack Obama, dancer Carrie Ann Inaba, and professional golfer Michelle Wie. Mark earned two master's degrees from Northern Arizona University and worked as a high school band director in Arizona before moving to Hawaii. Advice for aspiring music directors? Mark urges, "You need to make sure that this is something you need to do, not something that you want to do," he says. "To be good at being a music teacher is not a responsibility that you can take lightly. If you merely like something, you should not be responsible for the lives of young people," he advises. 

Next came the acclaimed 330-member William Mason High School Marching Band from Mason, Ohio, led by Director Robert Bass. Mr. Bass has had a long career, teaching for an impressive 29 years, 15 of them as Director of Bands at Mason High School. Bands under his direction have performed in Carnegie Hall, Chicago Orchestra Hall, and the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival. A graduate of a small rural high school in Greensburg, Ohio, he earned his bachelor's degree in music education and performance at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, and his master's degree in music education at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. Mr. Bass takes his job as a music educator very seriously. "It is important to me to show students how music is involved in our everyday lives and the positive effects it can have on us," he says. "I enjoy working with students," Robert confesses. "In my opinion, it is the most rewarding job on the planet."

The final high school band to march down Colorado Blvd. was the spectacular Mira Mesa High School Sapphire Sound, under the direction of band leader Ms. Jeanne Christensen, the only woman Director of Bands featured in the parade. This fabulous 210-member composite band represents the entire San Diego Unified School District. The ensemble performed "Ode to Joy" and "America the Beautiful" along the five-and-a-half-mile parade route. "This is the Super Bowl of parades," says Ms. Christensen. "I couldn't be more proud of these students." This talented music educator earned her bachelor's degree at University of California, San Diego, and her master's degree at National University.

Congratulations to all these remarkable music educators, their hard-working students, and their supportive families and communities! A Happy New Year to all of them!

Best New Year's Resolutions for Teachers

I came across this really terrific article published yesterday in the Huffington Post. It was written by Dallas Rico, an educator and young adult novelist. Because the post really resonated with me, I am reprinting it here:

The New Year's Resolution Every Teacher Should Make

by Dallas Rico

In a week, we'll see tons of prominent store displays and ads stacked with weight loss shakes, protein bars and supplement pills. That's because, year after year, losing weight and getting in shape are among the top New Year's resolutions. Inevitably, around February, many give up on that goal, just in time for all the beer and hot wings that come with Super Bowl parties.

Though I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions (given their failure rate), I do believe that we teachers are positioned to make and keep them. Why? Because that holiday break removes us from our normal day-to-day routine and affords us time to reflect on our practice. Naturally, as we spend the holidays out of the classroom, we think about how the first semester went and come up with ways to improve for the next.

Personally, I plan to develop more student-centered projects that bring their learning to life. As a Spanish teacher, I have the opportunity to make lessons more meaningful beyond worksheets and tests. I realize I can do more with that and will strive to do so next year. Perhaps you want to seek more professional development opportunities or become more involved in school programs. Maybe you want to make a better effort calling parents or returning assignments back quicker (the struggle is real).

In my years in education, I've seen a number of complacent teachers who are content with using the same lesson plans, assessments and materials each year. The truth is that even teachers who've been in the profession for over 25 years can improve in one way or another.

On the other side, the first year teacher may utterly feel overwhelmed and needing to get better at various things. That's why every teacher can and should strive to improve in at least one way. That's a reasonable New Year's resolution, one that often happens naturally, but it still must be stated.

Due to the cyclical nature of education, especially if you teach the same subject and level each year, it's easy to fall into a groove and always do the exact same thing, as if you're an actor on a Broadway show. But I urge educators to find at least one way they can improve this year and create a plan to stick to it.

Thoughtful school administrators can also help teachers become more introspective. By introducing key school-wide initiatives, they push faculty to try new things. For instance, in a school I taught at in Los Angeles, the principal asked all teachers, even the Art, Math and P.E. teachers, to create one writing assignment within a two month period. The ultimate goal was to get students to write more and to improve the clarity of their arguments. After the window of time, all the teachers met and reflected on the process.

As a result, some, like our algebra teacher, began assigning more writing, thus, giving students more practice. Mission accomplished. Likewise, a savvy administrator can get the school to address a common issue with such an initiative.

For-profit companies set goals to make more money. Teachers set goals to get more students prepared for college and career. The better the teacher, the more prepared students will be. It all begins with saying "this year I will be a better teacher for my students by ______________."

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To view the original article, click on this link: New Year's Resolutions for Teachers.

Alan Lawrence Sitomer: Novelist and Chalkboard Champion

A very unique chalkboard champion is Alan Lawrence Sitomer, novelist and educator who has earned a reputation nationally for his success in engaging reluctant readers and as a motivational speaker. He was named California Teacher of the Year by the California Board of Education in 2007.

Born in 1967, Alan earned his bachelor's degree from USC, his teaching certificate through San Diego State University, and his master's degree from National University. He has taught English, Creative Writing, Speech & Debate, and AVID at Lynwood High School, an inner city school located in Lynwood, Los Angeles County, California.

Alan's published novels include The Hoopster, Hip Hop High School, and Homeboyz. He has also authored Hip-Hop Poetry & the Classics, a text that is currently being used in classrooms throughout the United States to teach classic poetry through hip-hop. The approach is intended to engaged reluctant students in both poetry and academics. Other titles published by Alan are a teacher's methodology book entitled Teaching Teens & Reaping Results: In a Wi-Fi, Hip-Hop, Where-Has-All-The-Sanityh-Gone World and The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

You can find Alan Sitomer's books on amazon and access his website at the following link: www.alanlawrencesitomer.com.

Chalkboard Hero Golda Meir: American Teacher and Israeli Prime Minister

Many people have heard of Golda Meir, the "Iron Lady of Israeli Politics" who served from 1969 to 1974 as the Prime Minister of Israel. But did you know that Golda was also a teacher?

Golda was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 3, 1898. Her parents were Moshe and Blume Mabovitch, and Golda was one of eight children born to the couple. Five of her siblings died in infancy; Golda was the middle child of three surviving daughters. When she was a young child, her father immigrated to the United States; the rest of the family followed him three years later. The Mabovitches settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

As a youngster, Golda attended the Fourth Street Grade School where she graduated as the valedictorian of her class. She then enrolled in North Division High School, against the wishes of her parents, who believed that girls should get married, not pursue an education or a profession. In her freshman year, Golda moved to Denver, Colorado, to live with her older sister, Sheyna, and at that time she transferred to North High School. In Denver Golda met a Morris Myerson, and she fell in love. Despite this romance, in 1915, Golda returned to her parents' home in Milwaukee, and the following year she graduated from North Division High School.

After her high school graduation, Golda enrolled at Wisconsin State Normal School to pursue a three-year degree in education. During her training, the neophyte educator taught young children reading, writing, and history three days a week at a folkshule, a Yiddish school at the Jewish Center of Milwaukee. She also gave numerous lectures on Zionism, a movement to establish a homeland for the Jewish people.

In 1917, Golda married her long-time boyfriend Morris Myerson. Later, she modified her surname to Meir. In 1921, the fourth year of their marriage, Golda and Morris emigrated to Palestine, where the couple quickly joined a kibbutz. Over the next five years, Golda and Morris had two children: a boy named Menachem in 1924, and daughter named Sarah in 1926.

Unfortunately, Morris contracted malaria, so the family left the kibbutz and moved to Jerusalem, where Golda accepted employment in a government job. She worked as the secretary of the Working Women's Council, and represented the council at a number of international labor meetings. In 1929 Golda was named a delegate to the world Zionist Organization. In the next decade, Golda organized illegal immigration of Jews to Palestine when it became obvious that they faced persecution by the Nazis. In 1946, at the end of WWII, Golda was appointed the acting head of the Jewish Agency's political department, a position she held until Israel was founded on May 14, 1948. The former teacher was among the signers of Israel's Declaration of Independence.

Golda began her political career in Israel as that country's representative to the Soviet Union. When she was elected to the first Israeli Parliament, she returned to Israel, where she was appointed minister of labor and social insurance. While serving in this capacity, she endeavored to solve the most important problems Israel faced at the time: housing and employment for 700,000 new immigrants. In 1947, David Ben Gurion, then Prime Minister of the fledgling country, appointed Golda his Foreign Minister, Israel's second most powerful position. The only female foreign minister then serving in the world, Golda nevertheless conducted herself in a very informal way. She flew tourist class, hand-washed her own underwear, shined her own shoes, and entertained foreign dignitaries in her kitchen wearing an apron and serving them her homemade pastries.

In 1966, sixty-year old Golda decided to retire from public service, but her political party persuaded her to become their secretary general and the secretary of the unified Labor Party. When Prime Minister Levi Eshkol died suddenly in 1969, her party prevailed upon her to become Israel's next Prime Minister. She guided her country through the difficult period of the Yom Kippur War. However, the former teacher was suffering from lymphatic cancer, and because of her declining health and political pressures, she decided to resign in 1974.

Golda Meir passed away on December 8, 1978, at the age of 80. At the time of her passing, Golda was recognized as one of the first women to lead a nation in the modern era. 

Margaret Clapp: High School English Teacher and Pulitzer Prize Winner

Often talented educators garner accolades of international proportions. Once such educator was Margaret Antoinette Clapp, a high school English teacher and historian from New York City who also happened to be the winner of a Pulitzer prize for biography.

Margaret Clapp was born on April 10, 1910, in East Orange, New Jersey. She was the youngest of four children, and the second daughter of Alfred Chapin and Anna (Roth) Clapp. As a teenager, she enrolled at East Orange High School, where she graduated in 1926. At the time of her high school graduation, she earned a scholarship to Wellesley College, where she earned her undergraduate degree in history and economics in 1930. While in college, Margaret was honored as a Wellesley College Scholar for her academic achievements.

Margaret accepted her first teaching position at the prestigious Todhunter School for Girls in Manhattan, New York, where she taught English literature for twelve years. During these years, she enrolled in Columbia University, completing the requirements for her masters degree in 1937.

During and after World War II, Margaret taught history at several New York City universities, including City College of New York, Douglass College, Columbia University, and Brooklyn College. Her doctoral dissertation at Columbia drew much praise, and was eventually developed into the biography Forgotten First Citizen: John Bigelow. John Bigelow was a little-known nineteenth-century politician, editor, reformer, and diplomat. Margaret's dissertation was developed and eventually published in 1947. The manuscript was named the winner of the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. For her achievement, the talented teacher was featured in a cover story for Time Magazine on October 10, 1949.  

When she was 39 years old, Margaret accepted a position as the eighth president of Wellesley College, and she served in this capacity from 1949 until her retirement in 1966. At the time she accepted the position, she was one of only five women who were serving as university presidents. During her tenure, Wellesley's financial resources and facilities were expanded to a substantial degree, and Margaret earned a reputation as a tireless advocate for careers for women. For her work at Wellesley, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy for Arts and Sciences in 1952. The library at Wellesley is named in her honor.

After leaving Wellesley, Margaret served briefly as administrator of Lady Doak College, a women's college in Madurai, South India. She was then named as United States cultural attaché to India, and eventually became an official of public affairs in the United States Information Agency until her final retirement in 1971. 

After returning from India, this amazing chalkboard champion settled in Tyringham, Massachusetts. In her later years, she was diagnosed with cancer, and she passed away on May 3, 1974.

Katherine Kelley:High School Math Teacher and Miss Nevada Beauty Pageant Winner

Many professional educators have earned acclaim in areas outside of the classroom. Such is the case with Katherine Kelley, a high school geometry teacher at Mojave High School in Clark County, Nevada, who is also a beauty pageant winner.

Katherine was born in Madisonville, Kentucky, on December 9, 1994. As a young teenager and student at Madisonville North Hopkins High School, she won her hometown pageant in 2009, garnering the title of Hopkins County Junior Miss. She also studied piano since the age of ten.

After her high school graduation, Katherine enrolled in the University of Alabama, where she earned her bachelors degree in international relations, cum laude. Following her college graduation, she enrolled in a masters program at the University of Nevada. While there, she was crowned Miss Summerlin (2015), and in June of that same year she captured the title of Miss Nevada. With a GPA of 4.0, Katherine was also honored with an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. 

Despite impressing pageant judges and the audience with her classical piano performance, Katherine has said, “I don’t think I want to be a professional musician. I am a teacher in North Las Vegas. I’ve always had a love of mathematics, and I want to continue teaching it. So many students don’t love it,

and I want to inspire them with it.” Her devotion to her profession is obvious. Her pageant platform was "Every Day Counts: Improving Public School Attendance." Through this platform, Katherine intends to work towards minimizing the challenges disadvantaged children face as they progress through the school system. "I enjoy spending the day in the classroom instilling a love of mathematics in my students," Katherine expresses. "My dream job would be to become secretary of education in Washington, D.C.," she says.

Katherine's win as Miss Nevada qualified her to enter the Miss America Pageant last September. In that competition, the crown went to Miss Georgia, Betty Cantrell.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Subversive Activity?

Whenever I read the gripping accounts of oppressed women in other countries such as the one presented by Azar Nafisi in Reading Lolita in Tehran, I become acutely aware of how lucky I am to have been born into liberty here in the United States. It never ceases to amaze me that the simple pass-time of reading a book and talking about it with others is considered a subversive activity in some countries. So many women worldwide still struggle to attain the freedoms that many of the young girls in our classrooms take for granted.

In Reading Lolita in Tehran, Iranian author and professor Azar Nafisi describes her experiences as an educator at the University of Tehran during the fundamentalist revolution of 1978. When she refused to submit to an order by the male-dominated administration to wear a veil, which she considered a symbol of oppression, she was expelled from the faculty. Nafisi continued to instruct, however, by leading an underground book club attended by like-minded Iranian women. The group met in Nafisi's home every Thursday morning to study such forbidden Western classics as Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.

Nafisi's memoir is a transfixing example of resilience in the face of adversity. You can easily find Reading Lolita in Tehran on amazon.