It's a two-post day.  The previous post is for everybody, this one is mostly for band families.  This post is a little overdue also.  As many of you might have guessed I will be making a few professional changes.  Some are short term and some are long term.  Cathy will, of course need more of my care.  Additionally, our children will need more attention and care because they deserve more, Cathy won't be able to give it, and they will be under greater emotional stress.


In the short term, I will not be working with the 2012 Marching Band, at least on a regular basis.  I will still be at a rehearsals here or there and will see the band at performances.  I will not, however, be part of the regular staff.  As I did some quick math I learned that there are 168 hours in a week.  If I work 80-90 hours (which is normal) and sleep 60 hours, that leaves 18-28 hours in a week to take care of the home and spend time with my family.  Most of those hours I'm too tired be a real presence anyway.  So, the marching band decision becomes a no-brainer.  As Cathy heals and my own children make their way into high school (2 years away only!) the option to work with marching band begins to make more sense again for my life as a husband and father.


In the longer term, Avious Jackson and I will be swapping jobs.  This was a much more difficult decision to make.  I have truly loved my 10 years teaching the music students at Mason High School.  In that time I have been fortunate to build many great bonds and make greater art than I could have imagined.  Great art requires time and discipline, though.  In this year, and indeed for the foreseeable future, I will not be able to give what it requires.  Even when marching band is not in season, making great music and teaching well are incredible time consuming and emotionally demanding.  The students at Mason High School deserve to be able to make the best music they can and need fully committed instructors to do that.  At this time, Mr. Jackson is the talented artist and devoted teacher that these students need and deserve.  I am not that person.  Right now my family needs to be my work of art.


I will be working at Mason Intermediate School with an age group that I have experience teaching and with another teacher, Chad Fourman, who is a great friend and colleague.  I will appreciate the decreased time commitment and lowered performance stress as I focus on healing my family.  The students and administration at MIS also deserve the consistency of knowing that their personnel will not change year after year.  With that in mind, I plan on remaining at MIS until the needs of the district necessitate my presence elsewhere.


None of these decisions came easily, but the solutions were indeed obvious.  Even when logic is staring you straight in the face it isn't easy to make changes when you love the way things are.  Sometimes, oftentimes, doing what is right is the most difficult choice to make, even when it's easy to see.