WHAT I LEARNED AS A BAND MOM – A LOT MORE THAN MUSIC!
I was a band mom. It started when my son joined the band at Chaboya Middle School, and I attended each concert or performance as one of many proud parents in the audience. I encouraged him to expand his horizons by finding opportunities for him to enrich his musical exposure and hone his saxophone skills. There was La Honda Music Camp and Jazz Goes to College at San Jose State. Mrs. Kolber, music teacher at Chaboya, told him about an opportunity to play with The Villages band, which proved to be a wonderful inter-generational experience. He was excited to attend EVHS, as he’d heard great things about the marching band there – and the band trips to Disneyworld! He arrived at EVHS at the same time as the new band director, and plans for a performance at Disney were scrapped. By the end of that first year, there was talk of a new band director coming in at the start of his sophomore year. And then Steven Barnhill arrived at EVHS as the music director, and we stepped up our game as a band family.
I had joined the parent-led Band Boosters organization the first year, but Mr. Barnhill’s vision for the music program necessitated changes in the group’s focus and operations. I became president of the Band Boosters junior year and held that position for 4 years – including 2 years after my son graduated! Alongside other parents, I did it all – organized fundraisers, baked treats for concessions at concerts, chaperoned 110 students to Disneyworld, and accompanied 55 amazing students to witness them perform at Carnegie Hall. To say it was a labor of love is an understatement. It was about so much more than the music!
The time I spent supporting Mr. Barnhill as he expanded the instrumental music program at EVHS gave me an opportunity to interact and engage with the students as well. Overall, they were a great group of young people, some extremely focused and others still finding their way. The counselor in me would emerge, as I inquired about how their classes were going, test prep they were doing or college notifications they were receiving. While often reluctant to respond, they students quickly learned that I cared about them not just as band members but as young people navigating their way through high school.
I learned that students possessed many “and 1” skills. Several were great musicians on multiple instruments, while excelling in the classroom and participating on one of the school’s sports team. Others were experiencing family challenges and hardships, yet they still showed up for rehearsals competitions and performances, because they were committed to the program. One student was experiencing the unimaginable – her father was in the fight of his life, battling cancer that had metastasized. I didn’t want him to worry and I wanted to minimize at least some of the stress that comes with being a rising senior, so I committed to the dad that I would be his daughter’s college counselor. It was a wonderful journey with her – she had great college options and successfully completed her post-secondary education at UC Berkeley. I saw her a couple of months ago for the first time in a long while and fond memories came rushing back; my heart was filled with joy.
There really are takeaways from my trip down memory lane. I was inspired by the feature article on Mr. Steven Barnhill, someone for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect, and am honored to call him a friend. If you’ve read any of my articles, you know that I am a strong proponent of students participating in extracurricular activities that are of interest to them. I’ve seen – and experienced first-hand – the benefits of involvement in music programs in particular. The band community was a source of support for my son as he transitioned from elementary to middle school and then to high school and even to college. If you are committed to and passionate about an activity, find your community of like-minded people that share your interests, where you can explore, develop, excel and enjoy them together. Remember, The Journey Begins with You…
Antoinette Battiste is an Independent Educational Consultant and 20+ year resident of Evergreen. She is an active volunteer with many community organizations in Silicon Valley, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators (SCCABE), Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce, the African American Community Services Agency (AACSA), and the Northern California Association of Morehouse Parents (NCAMP).
