James Logan HS

[midavid]

The message below is originally posted at the following link:

http://www.loganbandandcolorguard.org/b ... -to-retire

Mr. Barrera to Retire

A letter to the students and parents of James Logan High School:

I am writing this letter to tell you that I have decided to retire after 36 years of being a high school band director.

I will miss working with all of the fine musicians and amazing Booster parents. I do have many memories of the fantastic accomplishments we have all experienced together.

I do not know what the future holds for me but what I want you to know is that I will always have you in my heart. Please understand that this is a personal decision based on many factors. I do not want to hurt anyone and only wish you the best as we all move forward.

Many thanks to the staff that made me look good with their brilliant work. Many thanks to the boosters that worked tirelessly to make our dream come true every year for the past 15 years.

In closing, it is up to you as individuals to continue to strive for excellence no matter what you do in life.

I will miss you and am sorry to not have been able to do this in person.

Sincerely,

Mr. B

[midavid]

The article below is originally posted at the following link:

http://unioncity.patch.com/articles/let ... ur-schools

Dear citizens of Union City:

Reclaim your schools. Elect a new school board. Demand the resignation of your superintendent. Hold your school administrators on a short leash and demand transparency and accountability. No longer accept the collusion of the local teacher's union and the school district in mismanaging public funds and minimizing your children's education.

I was a pawn in a political ploy made by the New Haven Unified School District and the New Haven Teacher's Association. In order to generate support for the most recent failed parcel tax measure I received a layoff notice in March and a final notice of layoff in May. So did four other of my fellow school band directors at the high school and middle schools. It is not hyperbole to state that the wind band program at James Logan High School has been one of the best in the country during my tenure.

After having invested 13 years into this program, I thought it unconscionable how these layoffs came to be. As I learned from a CTA lawyer, the district could have protected the specialists that created this gem of a program, but chose not to. Since I received no communication from the central administration during this process other than layoff notices, I understood my skills were regarded as dispensable, if not simply unrecognized and disregarded. I began a national job search and secured employment at an excellent band program elsewhere in the country.

NHTA and NHUSD then promoted Measure H, with the help of parent boosters, as purportedly the only way to: restore school music, school electives, and school extra-curricular activities. The language of the measure did not state this. It in fact stated clearly that the money was to support core curriculum. I was educated by the NHTA this was because the 2011 parcel tax had failed, and research showed that people would not vote for extra funding to support school music, school electives and school extra-curricular activities. The campaign for Measure H was apparently a ruse designed to extort money to, among other things, help fund the program with which I was involved.

The day after Measure H failed, the district, arm in arm with the NHTA, unveiled a new agreement that restored the music program.

The puppet strings lodged in my back became distinctly apparent.

An NHTA representative stated recently in a mass email to teachers that the financial problem facing the school district is not an "us vs. them" situation. The problem lies solely with state leadership. Citizens, administrators and teachers are all in this together. Nonsense. NHUSD is reaping the whirlwind which they have sown with poor financial decision after poor financial decision. These have included: needlessly tearing down the continuation high school, constructing 9th grade science facilities on what remains 6-8 middle school campuses, needless construction of an elementary school based on incorrect population projections (this same school not built to code for use by all grades K-5), union-district salary negotiations that chose to ignore the coming economic storm until it was too late...

Other districts (with the consent of their local union membership) in California instituted furlough days years ago on a much more modest level, and now have a surplus of funds and no furlough days and a lower student-teacher ratio due to their vision, and saved the needless parade of annual pink slips. NHUSD could have done the same, but chose not to.

Reclaim your schools. Elect a new school board. Demand the resignation of your superintendent. Hold your school's administrators on a short leash and demand transparency and accountability. No longer accept the collusion of the local teacher's union and the school district in mismanaging public funds and minimizing your children's education.

Thank you for your attention.

Kenneth J. Karlin
Associate Director of Bands
James Logan High School, 1999-2012

[midavid]

The message below is originally posted at the following link:

http://www.loganbandandcolorguard.org/m ... logan-band

Adam Wilke is New Director for Logan Band

The search for a new Logan High School Director of Bands has reached fruition! We are pleased to announce that Adam Wilke, Assistant Director of Bands & Director of Jazz Studies at Clovis East High School, has accepted the Logan Director of Bands position. Adam is an alumnus of Fresno State University, having received his B.A. in Music Education in 1998 and his M.A. in Conducting in 2009. Adam was previously a high school band director at Arroyo Grande before his current position at Clovis East High School.

Among Adam's experiences are Fresno State University Associate Director of Bands and drill writer/visual instructor for the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Mustang Band. In addition, he has been a trumpet player in the San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra.

The Logan Band Boosters welcome you, Adam, to Logan High School and to our Booster family! We look forward to working with you to maintain Logan's world class music program as strong as ever!

We also want to thank the Logan High Administrators, Music Consultants, and Booster Board members for their thoroughly collaborative and objective effort during the hiring process. This was certainly no small feat, and their time and effort is greatly appreciated!

One of Adam's first ventures of course will be the Assistant Band Director search.

[midavid]

The message below is originally posted at the following link:

http://www.loganbandandcolorguard.org/c ... d-director

Patrick Refsnider Hired as Assistant Band Director

Mr. Wilke and Logan High School are pleased to announce that we have a new Assistant Band Director! Patrick Refsnider will be joining Logan Band next week. Patrick was most recently Director of Bands at Aloha High School in Aloha, Oregon. He studied at the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois, where he received his B.M. in Music Education in 2004. Patrick received his M.M. in Clarinet Performance from the University of Notre Dame in 2006. While at the University of Notre Dame Patrick served as Graduate Assistant to the Director of Bands. Prior to teaching at Aloha High School, Patrick taught at Sprague High School, Roseburg High School and served as Assistant Professor of Clarinet and Director of Continuing Education at VanderCook College of Music. Patrick studied clarinet with Ruth Rhodes of the Northwest Indiana Symphony and John Bruce Yeh, assistant principal clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

[mvasquez]

Congratulations to Mr. Wilke! he is a great teacher and will do a fine job at Logan HS. Way to go Adam!