Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • December 2012
3
Each year I have served on the TBA
Board of Directors has been a memorable
experience. Being Vice President last year
was themost rewarding. Itwasmyprivilege
to chair the Malcolm Helm
Memorial Scholarship. The
scholarship is funded by
contributions from TBA
members. Through the
generosity of our donors,
the scholarship doubled
in value from $2000 to
$4000.
Twenty-eight outstand-
ing men and women
applied for this scholarship. Each one
had a wonderful story to share about why
they chose to study music and become
educators. Each candidate wrote of their
love of music, but more importantly,
about the teachers that encouraged and
motivated them to pursue a career in
music education.
Their personal essays caused me to
reflect on how we, as teachers, have
the potential to empower and inspire
young adults. The amount of time spent
with our students has an immeasurable
impact. It’s imperative to be positive role
models to our students.
Students find inspiration and
acceptance in our “band family”. As the
director you are the head of the family.
Each band member needs to “buy in”
to the program. Allow students to be an
active part of the evaluation process. One
of the best ways to facilitate this is by
having each band member evaluate the
program after every concert, contest, or
grading period. Evaluation can be done
in several different ways
including a questionnaire,
online survey, and
group discussion. These
techniques create student
ownership of the program
and encourage them to be
involved in the assessment
process. Try calling a
“family meeting” and ask
for student feedback and
suggestions. For example, I’m asking
students to evaluate our marching season.
One of the most important questions I
ask is, “What could the band directors
have done differently in order for the
band to achieve our goals? “Will you
get some flippant wisecracking answers?
Sure, that’s part of the process, but for
the most part, you will receive valuable
feedback. In a beginner band setting,
you might ask, “What do you feel was
the most important fundamental we were
trying to achieve the first six weeks and
did we achieve it?” You will be surprised
at some of the answers. Either way, you
will get incredible responses and perhaps
realize that you may need to change your
teaching method or approach. Whether
you take the students advice or not,
this will help them feel like they have
a voice in helping the band’s successes.
From the Board
Richard Herrera, 2012 - 13 TBA President Elect
Alfredo Vélez III
President
Lone Star College-Kingwood
20000 Kingwood Drive
Kingwood, TX 77339-3801
281-318-4335
email@alfredovelez.com
Richard Herrera
President Elect
Brandeis High School
13011 Kyle Seale Pkwy.
San Antonio, TX 78249
210-397-8300
richard.herrera@nisd.net
Bruce Beach
Vice President
Franklin High School
900 N. Resler
El Paso, TX 79912
915-832-6608
beachbeachmus@aol.com
Steven Moore
Treasurer
Lindale High School
P.O. Box 370
Lindale, TX 75771
903-881-4140
mooresw@lind.sprnet.org
Jeff King
Secretary
Duncanville High School
900 W. Camp Wisdom Road
Duncanville, TX 75116
972-708-3732
kingjeffrey@hotmail.com
Chico Portillo
Sergeant-at-Arms
Pflugerville ISD Fine Arts
1401 W. Pecan
Pflugerville, TX 78660
512-594-0187
portillo.chico@gmail.com
Tom Harrington
Past President
Spillane Middle School
13403 Woods Spillane Blvd.
Cypress, TX 77429
281-213-1782
thomas.harrington@earthlink.net
Michael Brashear
Executive Director
Texas Bandmasters Association
1002 Central Parkway South
San Antonio, TX 78232
210-492-8878
mbrashear@texasbandmasters.org
Texas Bandmasters
Association
2012-13
Board of Directors