Last Fall Globe Unified School District launched their new band program with an investment of $135,000 in shiny new band equipment and two highly gifted musicians and educators to lead the way. Less than nine months later both educators have left the district over differences with the District Office and the band program is left with big beautiful band rooms, their investment in new equipment and sixty five kids who bought into the promise and worked hard this year on their music, and as of yet no one in the Directors chair.
The promise of a great band program took a nose dive you might say. The issues involved here are not about budget, but about personalities, policies and promises. In the beginning all of those were aligned.
As Bouma says, ”I was told that Globe Schools were interested in completely rebuilding the school system. Making it a place where students were much more likely to go to college. Where they had more contact with the outside world and Fine Arts. And that Fine Arts was going to be a big part of the new program.”
Bouma, who recently resigned his position with GUSD in April, had come here to rebuild the band program “Its what I do.” he said. “I rebuild programs.” The idea of rebuilding Globe’s program had particular appeal to him because it had fallen so far off the radar it was barely recognizable as a music program of any kind. As Bouma says, when I came here there were no kids in the program. No instruments which were playable. “
And yet, there was one bright shining moment in Globe’s history where a trumpet player from Chicago, Milt Nunamaker, had taken the little rag tag group of Globe students and made them into a musical powerhouse. He not only set the standards for small town bands, but for bands everywhere. His name became synonymous with excellence. That was in the fifties. Bouma saw the opportunity to bring back the Nunamaker legacy to Globe, and to make this his final parting gift in a long line of professional success. And with his skills as an educator and leader in music programs spanning 40 years, he was the man who could make it happen.
Bob Miller was the second component in the building blocks for a new band program. He came to Globe with his wife Dr. Linda Miller (who had been hired to head up the newly minted College Prep Academy) a year before and he is the one who placed the call to Bouma when it was decided to find a Director for the Band Program. The two men had worked together professionally over the years and both respected the others talents. The chance to work with Bob, and build a defunct band program into something great was just too good of an opportunity to turn down.
He must have wondered about the wisdom of that decision his first week when his entire first rehearsal involved teaching kids that it is “…really not cool to tackle your friend when he’s holding a $3000 instrument. Or blow in your neighbor’s ear with a tuba.”
Yet kids who started the semester not knowing a b flat from an f sharp soon learned to play well enough to perform at the football games and in December they gave a winter concert which involved grades 5 through 12. “They performed credibly, says Bouma. Parents were thrilled. Even the kids were pretty pleased with themselves!
That same month was also stressful for the kids and the band program as a whole. Bob Miller had left at the end of November when his wife resigned from her position with the CPA over disagreements with the District Office. Bob Miller, who was working part time and giving individual lessons enabled Bouma to concentrate on the group lessons and the overall program direction. The loss of Miller put the program, the kids and Bouma at a disadvantage.
“The way you build a program is through individual lessons and group lessons,” he said. ” I did go ahead and pick up Bob’s schedule for awhile, teaching individual lessons. I was putting in 8-to-4 days with no lunch and no prep. period.” Covering what had been a two person job, Bouma says he was told he’d be compensated for the additional hours. By late January however he still hadn’t seen anything in his paycheck and there was no response to his inquiries regarding the issue. It was about the same time period he noticed there were discrepancies in other areas concerning his contractual agreement with the District including the issue of his sign-on bonus and pay. He says his inquiries went unresolved. So in late January he quit giving individual lessons, but continued with his duties as band director and Fine Arts Director. Kids kept coming to class and they were now practicing on their own. In fact, Bouma is very proud of the kids. He says that although he has worked with more advanced kids, he has never worked with a group of kids who achieved so much in such a short period of time. They went from zero… to performing together. There was a general consensus among those close to the program who could see the strides the kids were making in class that this was becoming a real band program. Parents who had seen programs come and go started to believe this one might just gel into something good. Something groooovy.
That was before anyone knew the School Board had approved a personnel report in February agreeing to “non-renew” contracts of thirteen emergency certified teachers. Bouma was on that list. Saying aidios to the promise of a band program led by experience and passion , the District will be announcing next week they have hired a young teacher as the new Band Director who has a major in History. No music degree. And plays the drums. Welcome to GUSD where lip service to providing excellence in the classroom is often at odds with its actions.
The sequence of events from that point (in February) to Bouma resigning from the District in April may be discussed in another post, but suffice to say it was a highly unusual act for the man. Something went wrong here and it was not the program itself or Bouma’s relationship with the kids or the parents of the band program. Kids and parents loved him. “My child learned to play three instruments under Dr. Bouma, ” says one. “It’s a huge loss, says another parent. “My child loved going to band. And loved Dr. Bouma. He was the first teacher who made her want to go to class. I’m just sick about him leaving.”
Speaking with Tim Watson, of Morningside College who co-directed the music program at Morningside College with Bouma for six years says “Gerry Bouma was the kind of educator who “always put his students first and did what he thought was best for them.” He went on to describe Bouma as an exceptional educator. One who had an unusual breadth of talent in both choral and instrumental music. One who was a dedicated, compassionate educational leader who gave good advice… as well as free rein to others to disagree and not follow that advice.”
Watson echos others who have described Bouma as a leader and an educator with a strong sense of integrity in his work and his relationships. A man who has spent a professional career creating environments where those around him could flourish.
Until now.
We should ask ourselves why.
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there was a time when it was made up of young guys, they have alot of members in their 70’s willing to shoot-it-out and fall on the ground up to ten times a day….. just for the fun of it. Although, in speaking to a few of them, they say it does get hard on the knees (and joints) after awhile.
It was Windy Bill who made the final call on the staging of the train robbery and he did it in the ten minutes before the train pulled into the station. By the time the train arrived, each member of the group knew his/her part in the “robbery” and the rest is… well, pure entertainment. Here’s how it went down:
