By John Gardner
In my first summer of teaching, I was only 3-4 years older than the seniors in the band. Just before school started we spent a week at Camp Crescendo Band Camp. There were normally 6-10 bands in the camp any given week. Directors were responsible for ensuring all their students were in the proper dorms at the appointed time in the evening. When I would approach the girls’ dorm, they would tease me by calling me ‘dad’.
The ‘dad’ thing continued because they could tell it embarrassed me. It was not disrespectful, in fact, the opposite.
I was concerned that I’d get to school for the first week on the job on site and get called into the office because my students were calling me dad. But no, it seemed to be a “for band’s ears only” kind of thing.
This picture was taken at one of my first parades. With all the fun and games that we had, I do like to point out that they are all in step…..all….of….them.
