Author Archives: Terry Lee Marzell

About Terry Lee Marzell

Terry Lee Marzell holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cal State Fullerton and a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Cal State San Bernardino. She also holds a certificate for Interior Design Level 1 from Mt. San Antonio College. She has been an educator in the Corona Norco Unified School District for more than 30 years.

TX music educator Brent Biskup to lead students in 2024 Macy’s Parade

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Brent Bishop, Director of Bands for Flower Mound High School in Flower Mound, Texas, will lead his 396-member group in the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Photo credit: Flower Mound High School

Congratulations to music educator Brent Biskup, Director of Bands for Flower Mound High School in the Lewisville Independent School District in Flower Mound, Texas. This talented and accomplished director will be appearing with his students in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Brent inaugurated his career as an educator in 2001, and he has been the Director of Bands at Flower Mound since 2014. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Colorado and his Master’s degree from Southern Oregon University.

Under Brent’s expert leadership, the Flower Mound High School Marching Band has been named a finalist and regional champion in several Bands of America Texas regional and super regional competitions. The 396-member group has also been named a finalist multiple times at the Bands of America Grand National Championships held in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition, the marching band has been named a UIL Texas State Marching Band Contest finalist, and the group was also named the Class 6A State Champion in 2016.

Brent also directs the Flower Mound Wind Symphony. This group earned a second place finish in the Texas State Honor Band Competition in 2024. This year marks the sixth consecutive year that the Wind Symphony has finished in the top four. In the spring of 2015, the Flower Mound Wind Symphony was invited to perform at the 69th Annual Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

For his work with young people, Brent was named the Flower Mound High School Teacher of the Year in 2016. He has also been recognized in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and he was honored by the Flower Mound Rotary Club as an Outstanding Community Member.

Music educator Matt Harloff to lead students in 2024 Macy’s Parade

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Director of Bands Matt Harloff of Avon High School in Avon, Indiana, will lead his 286-member marching band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. Photo credit: Avon High School

One of the most exciting American traditions of the holiday season is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. These past few years it has become my tradition to wake up on Thanksgiving Day, grab a hot Starbuck’s, and watch the parade—in its entirety—in my pajamas! An an integral part of the parade is the high school marching bands, led by some of the most talented and dedicated music educators from around the country.

This year, one of the outstanding high school bands that is making an appearance in the parade is the Avon High School Black & Gold from Avon, Indiana. This 286-member group led by Director of Bands Matt Harloff is making their first appearance in the Macy’s.

Matt earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Indiana University in 1996. He earned his Master’s in Education from the University of Indianapolis in 2001.

After earning his degrees, Matt accepted a position as the Assistant Band Director at Avon High School. In the 28 years that Matt has been associated with Avon’s bands, the group has been named the ISSMA State Champions 16 times; they have been named a Top 3 State Finalist 22 times; the have garnered the Bands of America Grand National Champions four times; they earned a John Philip Souza Foundation Sudler Shield Recipient (2007); and they participated in the Rose Bowl Parade (2012),

During his career, Matt spent three years as the brass instructor for the ten-time DCI World Champion Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. He worked in that position in 1998, 1999, and 2002. Matt was also a performing member of the DCI World Champion Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps from 1989 to 1995, and he served as their drum major in 1993.

 

Former teacher Pat Conroy earns accolades as author of novels and memoirs

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Former classroom teacher Pat Conroy earned acclaim as an accomplished write of memoirs and novels. Photo credit: Pat Conroy

Many outstanding classroom teachers have also made a name for themselves as successful authors. One of these was (Donald) Patrick Conroy, who has written a number of highly-acclaimed memoirs and novels, two of which were made into movies that were nominated for Academy Awards.

Pat was born on Oct. 26, 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia, the first of seven children born to a fighter pilot in the Marines and his wife. During his childhood, Pat’s family moved frequently to military bases throughout the South, eventually landing in South Carolina. After his high school graduation he earned his Bachelor’s degree from The Citadel, a military college located in Charleston, South Carolina.

Once he earned his degree, Pat accepted a teaching position at his alma mater, Beaufort High School. There he taught English and psychology. In 1969 he took a job teaching underprivileged students in grades five through eight in a one-room schoolhouse on Daufuskie, a small island about three miles off the South Carolina mainland.

Pat found teaching conditions on Daufuskie very challenging. He discovered that as far as education was concerned, the students had been severely neglected, and nearly all the students were illiterate. After just a year of teaching on Daufuskie, Pat was fired for using unconventional teaching strategies, including his use of experiential learning practices and his refusal to use corporal punishment, and for his confrontations with administrators. He wrote a 1972 memoir about this experience entitled The Water is Wide. The volume earned an award from the National Education Association for its honest depiction of institutionalized racism in public schools. In 1974, the book was adapted into the movie Conrack directed by Martin Ritt and starring Jon Voight.

This former teacher also wrote The Boo (1970); The Great Santini (1976); The Lords of Discipline (1980); Beach Music (1995); and The Prince of Tides (1986); the memoir My Losing Season (2002); The Pat Conroy Cookbook (2004); South of Broad (2009); a collection of essays entitled My Reading Life (2010); the memoir The Death of Santini (2013). His novels The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini were made into films, and both were nominated for Academy Awards.

Sadly, this Chalkboard Champion succumbed to pancreatic cancer on March 4, 2016, in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was 70 old. He is interred in a small cemetery on St. Helena Island near the Penn Center, where as a teenager he first met Martin Luther King and where he was honored in 2011 for his dedication to social justice.

Think about gifting Marzell books to family, friends, and colleagues!

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Another holiday season is upon us, and many people are thinking about choosing gifts for their family and friends. Time to get going on that holiday shopping!

When making your gift list, I hope you will remember the dedicated teacher that has been working tirelessly during the pandemic to provide the best education he or she possibly can for your child or children. You could consider gifting that teacher with a copy of an inspirational book. What a wonderful way to thank them for all their hard work. Or, if the teacher we are speaking of is you, you could indulge yourself and stock up on something inspirational to read during your upcoming and much-anticipated Winter Break.

I have two splendid titles to suggest:  Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Remarkable Teachers who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students (available here) and Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor (available here). Each one available in print or in e-book formats and is reasonably priced.

If you are looking for a light-hearted book with positive messages to gift to a young one, say between the ages of 8 and 12, consider my most recent book, Unleashed! The Dog Park Chronicles (available here). This volume makes good reading for adults as well.

As always, happy winter holidays to you and yours!