The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MARCHING BAND DIRECTOR A CONDUIT FOR CAMARADERIE
Chardon band director brings experience, excitement into music education
From freshmen to seniors, Chardon High School’s band director Melissa Lichtler seems to have a knack for unifying the pack, some of her longtime band members say.
Connor Prusha, a senior percussionist, said he’s had a blast over the past four years in marching band and he credits Lichtler largely for making is such a good time.
“It’s fun,” he said in a Nov. 2 interview at Chardon High School. “She really know what she’s doing. She’s got a great educational background and she’s been here a long time. We always have fun with her, especially those of us who have been here a long time.”
Hilltopper field commander Jennifer Vandenberg, also in her senior year at Chardon, has been working with Lichtler in one form or another since fifth grade, when students are introduced to the district’s band program as an option.
“She gives all of us as many opportunities as she can, with what we have to work with, to succeed,” she said. “I feel like she gives us as much as she can (in terms of her attention and opportunities) so we can succeed.”
Likewise, junior-year majorette Searra Hough said Lichtler’s leadership style is a benevolent one, through which she treats students more like peers than a bunch of kids in a class.
“Yeah, she definitely treats us like peers,” she said, adding that Lichtler makes a special effort to ensure the ensemble’s majorettes — the Topperettes — are an important part of the whole organization, even though they don’t play instruments, themselves. “She makes sure we’re al working together and that we can give feedback.”
Searra has also been working with Lichtler since fifth grade.
Lichtler is a Minerva, Ohio, native and has been band director at the Chardon Schools for the last 21 years, she said, following a two-year stint at Shaker Heights High School.
She said she, too, started in band in the fifth grade, when, like Madison Schools band director Brett Tomko, she picked the trombone as her main instrument.
“I chose the trombone because they needed trombones and (I) ended up being great at it,” she said in a Nov. 1 e-mail exchange. “My first choices, though, were trumpet and flute.”
She added that she’s also been playing piano since kindergarten.
When asked why she chose to be a band member throughout her schooling, Lichtler’s answer echoed those given by young marching-band members from Wickliffe to Fairport Harbor and beyond.
“I played in band because I enjoyed the musical outlet and the camaraderie,” she said, adding that the same joys are what motivate her today.
“The most rewarding part of my job is the accomplishment from July to October. It’s truly amazing how kids work together and accomplish what they put their minds to. (I also like) seeing the friendships emerge. Band truly is like a big family!”
Her three students interviewed Nov. 2 couldn’t agree more.
Searra, Connor and Jennifer all concurred that band has become like a second family to them and they feel like it’s become a big part of who they are.
Jennifer, whose older sister had Lichtler in band, said “she’s like my second mom.”
“We always talk to each other, always keep each other up to date,” Jennifer said. “If I have a personal problem, I can always go to her. She understands. And she makes sure we all get along as well as we can. She really understands teenagers an dhow we deal with confrontation.”
The trio said Lichtler often looks for opportunities for band members to bond beyond the band room, often organizing band get-togethers like zip-lining excursions and ice-skating outings.
Searra said she especially appreciates how Lichtler looks after her part of the band’s presentation.
“She always makes sure the music is up to tempo so we can have good routines,” she said. “And she makes sure we’re comfortable. Like, when it’s cold she makes sure we have raincoats. She definitely understands...”
All three students also agreed they wouldn’t be who they are today had they not gotten involved with the band to begin with.
“I’ve met a lot of people,” Connor said. “I mean, we started in the summer before high school started. So we got to meet all these people in high school before the school year even began. And that helped.”
An aspiring music educator, himself, he said “being in band has helped foster what I want to do as a career, as well.”
And they all agreed it’s a life-long learning opportunity practitioners can carry with them into their golden years.
“It doesn’t even matter how old you are,” said Jennifer, who plays the clarinet. “Band is different than, say, a sport. You could be 80 years old and still be doing it. I mean, I can see myself at 80, sitting on my rocking chair, still playing — and still learning.”
For Lichtler, who between fifth-grade band, high school band and history of rock and roll, teaches about 300 students, words like Jennifer’s are likely music to her ears.
“Marching band truly is a family,” she writes. “Kids of all types are involved and accepted in within the marching band! Being with your band family is truly a haven for many kids.”
And, like her students, she said it is important to treat the students like they’re peers.
“The best way to reach high school kids is to treat them like adults,” she said. “Let them help make decisions. The best way to teach them to be good musicians is to give them good examples.”
She said it takes a lot of work and an equal part commitment to do what they do.
“To have a successful season, our drumline begins rehearsing in May, our squad leaders start work in early July, and the entire band has a weeklong band camp at the end of July and then three or more days a week until the season begins,” she said. “We also perform in August before games begin to get us used to being in front of a crowd. Being a part of a marching band takes commitment on the part of the student as well as their family. Scheduling vacations, work schedules, and sports around the band is definitely a huge group effort!”
And, she said, the results have spoken for themselves.
“We had an awesome season this year! We had fantastic leadership from our seniors and a very large group of talented freshmen,” her email reads. “There isn’t one performance that I look back and think: ‘Well, that didn’t go so well.’ The kids gave each performance 110 percent and it really showed.”
And, although marching band season is over, the group still has lots to look forward to, even after the Friday night lights have gone dim.
For example, they recently did their annual Halloween show.
“The show includes ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Thriller,’” and the band got to get into costume for that performance. Plus, she said, there’s the end-of-season marching band banquet Nov. 9 at the Croatian Lodge in Eastlake, and then Disney World in Orlando, Flordia over spring break.