Stacey White: ISTA's Minority Educator of the Year
Stacey White, Noblesville High School's band director, has been named Minority Educator of the Year by the Indiana State Teachers Association.
Mr. White was nominated by several of his Noblesville colleagues because of his dedication to his students and to Noblesville's music program. He will be honored during the ISTA Fall Leadership Academy in September.
To say that the Noblesville band program is engrained in Mr. White's being might be an understatement.
A 1991 graduate of Noblesville High School, he entered the band program as a drummer in sixth grade. He played throughout high school and joined the band at Ball State University where, coincidentally, he met his wife, Tracy. After Mr. White received his degree in December 1996, he worked as a temporary substitute teacher at a middle school in Marion, and returned home in 1997 as an assistant band director. He's led the band program as director since 2005.
Mr. White didn't always envision himself as the band director at his alma mater.
"When I left high school I said I'd never come back," he recalls. "I didn't want to teach music. I wanted to play music."
At the suggestion of his college adviser he started looking at teaching. Once he had an opportunity to help with the Jay County and Muncie Central high school bands, he was hooked.
"My passion really grew from that," he said. "It is an honor to get up each day and "go do something I've loved to do since sixth grade and pass my love for that on to a younger generation."
Mr. White's days are divided between the sixth-grade program at Noblesville Intermediate School and the high school band program. "I get as much of a kick out of the younger kids as those who leave NHS and want to pursue music," he said.
His expectations for the 2010-11 band program are high as about 165 sixth graders are signed up for band, between 200-225 are enrolled in band at the middle school, and another 100-150 are taking band in high school.
As the days of summer move from June into July, band camp and band day at the Indiana State Fair will be taking center stage. Summer band is voluntary and includes students from incoming eighth-graders through those who recently graduated high school.
This year's state fair performance is entitled "The Journey of Man" and includes two pieces of music, "Distorted" and "Journey of Man." The program highlights the history of mankind and includes the discovery of fire and the development of technology.
Somewhat humbled by his award from the ISTA, Mr. White points to the professional educators around him.
"We have a phenomenal staff that is very smart, capable, and trustworthy," he said.
That staff includes him Bethany Mendenhall, jazz band director, Bethany Heniz, middle school band director, and Tracy White, Golden Guard director.
In addition to his work with the band, Mr. White plays piano for Bethel A.M.E. Church in Noblesville. He and his wife, Tracy, have a five-year-old son, Jeremiah, who will begin kindergarten in August at Stony Creek Elementary School.
- Sharon Trisler, Public Relations Director, Noblesville Schools
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