When an opening presented itself for a head band director position, Nicholas Shurtleff found himself drawn to the position.
“My family vacationed down here for years,” Shurtleff said. “Everytime we would go it was like, ‘Huh, I wonder if a job would open up.’ It was something that my family had looked into for years.”
Similarly, Hayden Drew also started a new venture here along with Mr. Shurtleff. As the directors navigate their new environment they are finding their feet and getting comfortable with such a large group of new students and directors. For Drew, working to get to know the students has been a priority.
“It’s so exciting, just talking to them, and trying to find things to connect over,” Drew said. “We see them quite a lot, and we just talk, and find new things for them to do musically, and ways for them to get better. Not just as musicians, but as people.”
With new leadership coming to the band, veteran directors are developing high expectations and trust in new directions that the band may be heading in.
“I see the directors leading the band to a place of positivity and respect,” Percussion Director Jeremiah Jones said. “Not putting a focus on placements, but a focus on relationships, culture, and attitude in the band. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to get last place.”
While there are many positive things that come from new band directors, such as newfound bonds, personal development, and generally flourishing as a whole, complications are still encountered along the way.
“The biggest problem has been things that are beyond the kids’ control and beyond our control, like the weather,” Drew said. “Dealing with the unpredictability of the weather. However, the students have pushed through, and we are going to get better in spite of it.”
With new leadership, adjustments in routine are often made, whether it comes from the students, or the directors.
“My biggest thing was that it’s easy for me to learn the system that’s in place, then to teach everybody a system that I want you to learn,” Shurtleff said. “It’s been a learning curve on my side of things, just to see how things operate normally, instead of changing everything to my operation. I feel like that makes the transition for the students and the staff a lot easier, yeah it’s more stress on me, but I don’t care.”
Overall, with new leadership coming to the band, new goals are set, whether it comes from previous ones, or ones that are created day by day. In the end, development of the band is what the directors are working toward, no matter who is in charge.
“I see us continuing a trajectory of positivity,” Shurtleff said. “Ultimately, the goal is to get better every day, and to have the willingness to do whatever it takes to get there, and that’s essentially where we’re going to go.”
