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West Branch music program gets national honor
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Robert Barnett, director of high-school bands, conducts a rehearsal of the band. The school district was named one of the Best Communities for Music Education by the Music Merchants Association Foundation in recognition of its commitment to music. It is one of 24 Ohio districts to make the list, and the only one in the tri-county area.
Program at West Branch School district receives honor
By Denise Dick
BELOIT
At West Branch Schools, band or vocal music isn’t just a class or an extracurricular activity for students.
“It’s a second home to them,” said Bryan Stehura, director of middle-school bands. “Being in our program is a sort of second family.”
Last week, the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation designated West Branch as one of 24 Ohio school districts as the Best Communities for Music Education in the country. It’s the only district in the tri-county area to make the list, which the organization says recognizes
“outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders who have made music-education part of the core curriculum.”
Superintendent Scott Weingert said music is something the district believes has a positive impact on students. Like many districts, though, the district has had to make cuts. The music department is down one person from where it was two years ago. A 0.75 percent income tax is on the May ballot, and district officials have said there’s a possibility of cuts to nonmandated programs and services if it fails.
Unlike other districts, though, West Branch students don’t have to choose between band and football or choir and art.
Robert Barnett, high-school director of band programs, said many students are in band, choir, theater and sports.
“At ‘Tarzan’ rehearsal the other day, we were waiting for six of the flying gorillas to come from a track meet,” added John Zamarelli, director of vocal music at the high school.
The musical, complete with characters flying above the stage on harnesses, will be presented April 11-13.
Each morning, Zamarelli’s room is filled with students. When he asks why they hang out there, they tell him it’s because it’s a place where it doesn’t matter if their hair looks bad or what kind of shoes they wear. They’re united by the music.
Students Allie Harris, Parker Zamarelli and Colby Briceland, all 18 and seniors, and junior Jane Stahl, 17, got involved in vocal music and musical theater as freshmen. Though the entry into the program was prompted by an older sibling, parent or classmate, their love of it has kept them involved.
“My dad is Mr. Zamarelli, so it wasn’t a choice at first,” Parker said, joking.
But he developed a love of choir and of musicals, portraying Tarzan in this month’s show.
The students have all developed close friendships through the music program, they say.
The music programs attract the high-achieving students who are involved in multiple school activities, but students who may need help in academic courses excel in music, too.
“When you walk into a math or a language arts class, you can tell the students who may be struggling,” Barnett said. “When you walk into band or choir, you can’t find that kid. It’s a different atmosphere. They have the full opportunity to really shine.”
The program starts in the district’s two elementary schools where Melissa Brand teaches students in kindergarten through fourth grade — about 900 students — a couple of times per week.
“My big goal is to bring to them a love of music and an appreciation of it,” Brand said.
In third grade, students make their own instruments using “found objects,” and in fourth grade, they begin to learn to play music on recorders.
“I want them to love it as much as I do,” Brand said.
She also teaches a fifth-grade music-appreciation class, and when students get to middle school, they can choose an instrument and join band.
There are sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade bands and a middle-school jazz band for which students must audition, said Krista Clay, director of vocal music and a West Branch alumna.
In vocal music, the school offers sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade choirs and a show choir for which students must audition.
This year, high-school students are directing middle-schoolers in the musical, “Hairspray,” next month.
In high school, students can participate in men’s or women’s chorus, concert choir and the show choir. The school also presents four musicals per year.
For band, there’s the marching band, symphonic/concert band, pep band and jazz ensemble.
Junior Brittany Ring, 16, and seniors Brenden DeSanzo, Dustin Kober and Fritzie Schlueter, all 18, all started in band as fifth-graders.
“For anybody who stays in band, you have to love band,” said DeSanzo, a percussionist. “It gives me a chance to express my emotions.”
Ring enjoys how members hold themselves to high standards in their performances.
Schlueter finds band more challenging than his other courses and appreciates that challenge. He likes to convey the emotion behind the music.
Kober says it’s a great outlet, and he enjoys both creating his own music and performing music written by others. “It’s calming and exciting at the same time,” he said.