Final Post

This will be my final post on this blog.  As most of you know, I will become the 7-12 band director at Bondurant-Farrar next year.  The past several weeks have been an emotional roller coaster.  It's been a challenge as I come to the realization I won't be teaching at C-M next year.  It has been wonderful working with the middle school staff and Mrs. Maher--they are wonderful people.  But more importantly, it has been awesome working with the students.  There are some wonderfully thoughtful and talented students at C-M!  The outpouring of support has been very appreciated--thank you!  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to help educate your children!  I'll be just down the road--I'll follow progress of students in the paper and on Facebook.  I would love to see some students at honor bands in the future!  I hope you continue to encourage your children to be involved in the arts.  Arts, and especially music, build many skills, but also some wonderful personal relationships.  It builds bridges and connects people who otherwise would have no interaction with each other.  I am grateful for the the opportunity to build relationships at C-M that I hope will last for a long time.  That reason is why I teach and, more specifically, why I teach music.

Thanks for reading!

End of the Year Performances

I posted a couple of word docs to the music portion of the website today concerning the remaining music performances for the 2011-2012 year.  We go right up to the end of the year!  As always, please let me know if there are any questions or concerns!!

A month!

It's been a month since my last post.  Sorry for that, but there have been lots of changes.  Blogger has upgraded and I am no longer able to post from my machine at school.  We have also welcomed a second Wipperman at home:  Reece William.  It is certainly a change from before--two makes things far more interesting!  Thanks for your patience will all of that!

Check out this link below!  It's amazing what music can do!  I have read one of Oliver Sacks' books.  Amazing stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDXuCE7LeQ

Concert Prep!

The Parade of Bands Concert is always a fun one for me--a great opportunity to hear student growth through the years.

However, a concert will all the groups at the high school is also a logistical mess. EVERYTHING from the middle school band room needs to get hauled to the HS between the end of the day Monday and the beginning of the day on Tuesday. We still need to have rehearsal at the middle school on Monday, as those last practices serve as a "pre-concert concert" for us. On Tuesday, 6-8 band will travel to the high school for a run-through in the HS gym. It's a very different environment to play in than the middle school gym, so it's much needed! After the concert, it's back to the middle school with the equipment so we can rehearse on Wednesday, and prepare for the next concert!

A big thank you to those who help with this transition of equipment. Lots of people help to make it happen.

Conferences

I love conferences!

I know it's not a typical thing to say--it hasn't always been this way. My first year of teaching I dreaded them.

I have really come to appreciate the opportunity to sit down and talk with parents and students. It has really become a chance to sit down and talk about progress and improvement, with the emphasis on 'talk.' I like to sit and chat, just a conversation about things, not a big confrontation or anything dramatic.

That is what conferences should be--a continuation, a dialogue--not the be all, end all; THAT'S awesome.

Mr. Kuehner

Sorry for not having posted for a while. Last week I had the honor of taking 4 awesome students to an honor band at Simpson College in Indianola. Students got their music about a month in advance and individually prepared their music. On Jan. 17th, those students from around the area came together to form 2 bands under guest conductors. They had never met as a group before, but they rehearsed for about 5 hours and gave an evening concert. It is a great experience!

Which brings me to my real point--the guest conductors. Usually honor bands are directed by people who are talented and well respected music educators. This year, one of the band directors at the honor band was the person I had the honor of doing my student teaching with--Leon Kuehner. He taught for over 30 years at Hampton-Dumont before "retiring." He still serves in so many capacities furthering music and education in the state of Iowa. He is a talented director, a wonderful teacher and an even better human being. He has received a national honor--and is completely deserving.

http://globegazette.com/news/local/retired-h-d-band-director-honored/article_57915826-470a-11e1-94b1-001871e3ce6c.html

Information

As we draw ever closer to solo/ensemble (Feb. 9 @ PCM) I have posted a link on the band website for performance times and information. If there are any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Over the next 2 weeks, we will be working to put solos together with the piano and small groups together with all their members. It's an exciting time!