Photo By Sgt. Michael Roach | Members of the “Big Red One” Brass Band exchange high fives with students...... read more read more
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March is Music In Our Schools Month, an annual celebration created by the National Association for Music Education. But for one “Big Red One” Soldier, it is also an opportunity to bring his passion back home.
Sgt. Jarod Willard, a trombone player with the 1st Infantry Division Band and a Kansas native, used MIOSM as a chance to give back to the community that helped give him his start in music. Originally from Mound City, Kansas, Willard coordinated with the local Jayhawk Elementary School to set up a concert for the students of USD 346 March 7.
“It was really cool,” Willard said. “I got to go back home and show everybody that music is important and it can take you places in life — places you never thought you would have gone before.”
Willard began coordinating with Mark Proffitt, the principal of Jayhawk Elementary School, about two months prior to the event.
“We try to bring a little bit of everything,” Proffitt said. “Anytime we can get visitors to come and perform regardless of what it is—anything with the arts—we love to have visitors.”
Being a member of the 1st Inf. Div. Band’s brass ensemble, Willard was able to deliver a portfolio of music that would range from classic artists like James Brown to contemporary hits by Adele while still being able to reach back to the roots of brass band music.
“Brass band is totally my favorite kind of ensemble to play in because you can do anything you want with a brass band, you can play any style of music,” Willard said. “We’re with a group of people in the brass band that, musically, want to be happy and excited so it’s a lot of fun”
Students from nearby Jayhawk Linn Junior-Senior High were bussed to Jayhawk Elementary, giving the band a crowd of all ages. The musicians shed their Army Combat Uniform blouses for the concert, highlighting their black T-shirts that read “BRO Brass” as they tore through their catalogue of songs for 45 minutes to the enthusiasm of the students in attendance. Cheers and applause became audible when one Soldier donned roller skates and began break dancing for the crowd.
“I just wanted to inspire kids there into exploring musical opportunities that they might not have been aware of, (like) joining the band and seeing what arts can do for them and their community,” Willard said. “I got an email from the principle this morning that said lots of kids are asking to join band now.”
MIOSM began as a single statewide advocacy day and celebration in New York in 1973 before culminating into a month-long celebration of school music by 1985, according to nafme.org, the National Association for Music Education’s official site. The purpose of the program is to promote the benefits of high quality music education programs in schools.
“We’re trying to get out into the communities that don’t so much have big-city arts, so we want to get out in the rural areas where they don’t get stuff like this as often,” Willard said.
BRO Brass, as well as other ensembles from the 1st Inf. Div. Band, have already done shows and worked with schools in Wichita and Topeka. While he is happy with the level of community involvement that they have accomplished this year, Willard also sees opportunities to expand on the program and extend it beyond a single month.
“Next March I will try and do even more schools than we did this year,” Willard said. “I want to go back and visit my school more than just in March. (I want to) take the band down there and work with them and just provide resources all across the state of Kansas, work with kids and show them that music is awesome.”
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 03.13.2017 17:48 |
| Story ID: | 226698 |
| Location: | MOUND CITY, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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