A Christmas miracle has happened for the music department amidst a teacher shortage. After an exhaustive search, a potential new band teacher has been found.
Art Department Head Module Downer and administrator Crystal Perry-Holden had been searching for a new band teacher ever since Melanie Jones’s resignation in November, just a month before the annual Winter Concert. However, the position has been unofficially filled as of December 21. Because official hiring paperwork has not yet been filed, the Round Table is not yet naming the individual.
Stamford High School’s annual Winter Concert took place on December 14, 2023. Usually the performers are the jazz band, the orchestra, the concert choir, Madrigals, and the band. However, this year, the concert lost two groups: the jazz band and the regular band. Unfortunately, there was no band teacher to help students prepare and perform for the concert.
In past years, the jazz band and concert band played a huge part in the concert, taking up half of each concert with many pieces that had the audience entertained. With no available teacher to teach students winter and holiday songs, the bands could not perform. This was a very tough situation, especially for the seniors in the class. What was supposed to be their last winter concert of their high school era turned into a moment they’ll never get.
“We’ve been let down repeatedly, it’s like nobody wants us.” said senior Lenns Belony. Another senior, Jason Alfaro, stated, “It feels like we did something wrong, it feels empty.” Not having a band teacher has had a significant impact on how students feel about themselves and their performance, especially with the timing of the band teacher’s resignation. School had only been in session for two months. This caused some students to believe that they may have had something to do with the teacher’s resignation. Fortunately, the hunt for a new teacher appears to be over.
Employing a new band teacher on such short notice is incredibly difficult, but Downer and Perry-Holden immediately stepped into action to find a new teacher. Within three weeks of losing the previous band teacher, many interviews took place to immediately find a replacement, and there is now a new teacher who will be starting in January.
“Our previous band teacher had resigned from her role on very short notice so Mrs Crystal Perry-Holden and I worked very hard to find someone, and just yesterday, Mrs. Perry-Holden found a good candidate we interviewed who will start when we come back from Christmas break. He’s young, excited, and eager to start.” said Downer.
Jones unexpectedly resigned just a few weeks before the winter concert. Erin Ring-Howell, the orchestra and choral director, has been creating lesson plans for the band students in the meantime; however, the band students simply could not be prepared for the concert in such a short amount of time. Due to there being no teacher, many students have quit the band already, a fact that the new teacher will have to reckon with upon their arrival.
“We’re just trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation. Lesson plans being provided for the students isn’t the perfect solution, but it’s the best we can do at this time. We are working to find the best person to fill this position,” said Ring-Howell.
Along with the two bands, there is a guitar class. Due to not having a teacher, the students have been utilizing this class as a study hall since there isn’t anything for them to do. Luckily, a new year calls for new changes, and administration expects that there will be a teacher for the students when they return from break.
