Bandworld Magazine

A special award of The John Philip Sousa Foundation Thomas Barker is the Director of Bands at Lafayette Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana. He has spent the last 18 years of his 39 teaching years in this position. Barker earned his bachelor's degree from East Carolina University and his MSME from the University of Illinois. His teaching began in Tolono, IL, then to...

Year of Graduation - 2003 Current Position - Director of Bands, Mandan High School, Mandan, ND. Time in current position - 5th Year What was your background before ABC? Before ABC I taught middle school band for 6 years. I started at Bismarck High School the fall after my first summer at ABC. Name some other accomplishments or awards since graduation. March 2010 – Bismarck HS Wind...

Year of Graduation - 2001 Current Position - Director of bands at University of Arkansas at Little Rock Time in current position - I was appointed director of bands this year. (Fall 2016) What was your background before ABC? I attended ABC after my first year of teaching (1999). Like many new teachers, I stepped into the classroom unprepared for what awaited me. ABC was the...

A special award of The John Philip Sousa Foundation Michael Fiske is the Director of Bands at Joliet Central High School in Joliet, Illinois, a position he has held for the last fourteen years. He has spent his entire career of nearly forty years in the high schools of Indiana and Illinois. Fiske earned his BME from Bradley University and his MME from...

A special award of The John Philip Sousa Foundation Daniel Wooten is the Director of Bands at Niceville Senior High School in Niceville, Florida. He began at this current position in 2003. Daniel has held a variety of music positions since graduating from Louisiana State University with his BME. Wooten has served at a variety of high schools in Florida with a ten-year...

Year of Graduation - 2004 Current Position - Director of Athletic Bands, South Dakota State University  Time in current position - I just completed my first year. What was your background before ABC? I earned my Bachelor of Music Education degree from South Dakota State University in 1998. taught 5-12 band at the Brandon Valley Schools from 1998-2012. I taught a little of everything- 5th-grade band,...

Year of Graduation - 2002 Current Position - Foothill High School in Palo Cedro, CA Band and Orchestra Time in current position - 14 Years What was your background before ABC? After graduating from Biola University in La Mirada, CA, I began teaching at Rancho-Starbuck Intermediate School in Whittier, CA in 1997 Name some other accomplishments or awards since graduation. CA Teacher of the Year, 2016...

A special award of The John Philip Sousa Foundation Leonard Ingrande has been the band director of Central High School in Fresno, California for the last 14 years. Prior to arriving at Central, he had served as the Music Specialist for the San Diego Unified School District. He also taught at the middle school, high school and college levels. Ingrande earned both his...

A special award of The John Philip Sousa Foundation Michael Boitz is the director of instrumental music at Saratoga High School in Saratoga, California. He has held this position since 1998. At Saratoga High, he also serves as the department chair. Boitz earned his Bachelor of Music from Concordia College in Moorhead Minnesota, he then went on to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois...

Let’s learn a five-step process for achieving your goals.  The acronym S.M.A.R.T. will help you remember each step. These S.M.A.R.T. goal steps are: S- SPECIFIC M- MEASURABLE A- ACTIONS R- RESOURCES T- TIME SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE goals, with ACTIONS and RESOURCES over TIME. S.M.A.R.T. steps! Now, let’s examine each step more closely. I will point out the important words in each phrase. I’ll show you the WRONG...