My blog posts. I hope to write a post every week. Generally you can find a new post on Sundays.
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Band is old America
Band is old America. I’m a band director and I teach students to do something that used to be incredibly popular in America. But, how do I adjust to modern times? John Philip Sousa Nothing says band like, John Philips Sousa. He was a famous composer and band leader in the late 1800’s and early…
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Christian School Band Directing
In 1990 I began a 26 year journey in christian school band directing. Those years would have as much, or more effect on me than they had on my students. Getting started My first two years of directing at a public middle school were unpleasant to say the least. They wanted me to return for…
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At the Crossroads
You can look back and see moments where you were at the crossroads. The problem is that, most of the time, you can’t see those moments coming. One of my crossroad’s moments occurred in the school year 2015 – 2016. I was blissfully skipping along and doing my work, with no idea that up ahead…
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God, Life and Fear
I’m on a journey with God, traveling through fear and into life. I believe that God exists and that He actively works in His creation. But, that hasn’t automatically translated into a fearless life. God and fear I grew up going to church. I have numerous memories of being in our Baptist Church in Irwin,…
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You are an Outlier
You are an Outlier! This week I had to watch students for 3 hours while they worked. Boring! So, while I sat and watched, I decided to pull Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success from the shelf and re-read it. The book looks at people who are incredibly good at something and asks the…