Local music aficionados are sure to give a standing ovation to
members of the Hollister School District Elementary School Band,
whose excellence has earned them an invitation to perform at the
California Music Educators Convention in Sacramento on next
month.
Hollister – Local music aficionados are sure to give a standing ovation to members of the Hollister School District Elementary School Band, whose excellence has earned them an invitation to perform at the California Music Educators Convention in Sacramento on next month.
“I’m thrilled, and the kids are very excited,” said Susan Chizek, band teacher for all six elementary schools. “This is really such an honor.”
The HSD band, comprised entirely of fourth and fifth graders and 98 students strong, is the only elementary school band performing at convention – out of more than 100 acts over the three-day event.
A particularly strong performance at their last Christmas concert earned the HSD band the right to strut their stuff at the CMEA conference. Gene Smith, past president of the Central Coast section of the CMEA, heard the band’s selections and was impressed. When he learned that the students practice together for less than two hours every week, he was amazed.
Smith approached the executive director of the CMEA, who insisted that the HSD band submit an application to perform at the state conference, with the hope that Chizek’s teaching methods will assist other music teachers facing similar time constraints.
“They just want to ask her ‘Susie, how are you doing this?'” Smith said. “And that’s hard for a good teacher to answer, because they don’t perceive that they’re doing anything special… But hopefully some of that magic will translate into information that other teachers can use, because it’s dynamite stuff.”
The success of the band is particularly impressive, given that HSD has seen considerable financial woes in recent years. The district learned over the summer that it could well be operating at a $2.9 million deficit by 2008 if drastic cuts were not made, and typically music and fine arts programs are the first to go in such situations.
“It speaks a great deal about the commitment of the district and schools’ administration that the program is alive and doing so well,” Smith said. “Those districts that say ‘we need to raise test scores’ and then cut music are really shooting themselves in the foot, because 15 years of research shows that kids who study music do well on tests.”
The band’s success, says Chizek, also speaks well of the community, which responded enthusiastically with donations of instruments and cash after several articles appeared in the local media about the program’s instrument shortage.
“Every child who asked for an instrument because of financial need received one this year,” Chizek said. “That’s never happened before, that’s huge for us.”
After the HSD band returns from the CMEA conference, local fans will have two opportunities to see them perform: The April 4 County Music Festival at the SBHS gym and the May 17 Spring Concert at the Rancho San Justo gym.
“I’m excited to see what Susie does at the conference,” Smith said. “What she passes on to the other teachers could affect how music is taught up and down the state, and you’d never know it otherwise. It’s incredible.”
