Annandale Band Director Claims Racism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There has to be more to this story. It's not ok to scream and yell, but being strict with a large group of kids is not a bad thing and probably needed. We've had lots of activities, including music and you need strict and structured, especially for music but one issue we see in MS/HS band is the lack of teaching and kids need to know the instrument or be in private music lessons to be successful as in ES they teach individual instruments but not in MS/HS so many kids struggle.

For a band director, yes, it's ok. Otherwise chaos and mediocrity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has to be more to this story. It's not ok to scream and yell, but being strict with a large group of kids is not a bad thing and probably needed. We've had lots of activities, including music and you need strict and structured, especially for music but one issue we see in MS/HS band is the lack of teaching and kids need to know the instrument or be in private music lessons to be successful as in ES they teach individual instruments but not in MS/HS so many kids struggle.

For a band director, yes, it's ok. Otherwise chaos and mediocrity.

My child is in private orchestra and there is no yelling or screaming. It's not ok. He's to focused on being a digital content creator and its not ok to be filming his classes and broadcasting them. He's not screaming in what I saw but he's pretty flat and bland and putting on a show for the camera. He's not making the classes fun or engaging. And, not much instruction, a few comments and that's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The guy posted a lot of very narcissistic stuff on Instagram, and he has made a bunch of heavy-handed comments about how white parents at Annandale (how many are even left there) are out to get him, but I do feel sorry for teachers who get solid ratings one year only to see their ratings tank the next year when there’s a change in supervisors (Annandale had appointed a new head of student activities). I thought Shawn DeRose was one of those principals who walked on water - which is why Ricardy Anderson and Fabio Zuluaga made sure he was appointed principal of AHS - but he doesn’t seem to have mediated this situated well at all. And now the usual folks such as Sujatha Hampton of the NAACP are demanding an investigation by FCPS.

Was he making comments like these before he was fired?

I looked at Facebook, not Instagram but there was a lot of comments that shouldn't be public if you are a professional teacher. He made some pretty inappropriate comments about white parents. There has to be a lot more to what he's showing on his social media. I was surprised he was posting so many pictures of students and FCPS allows it on his personal page. I would be really pissed about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has to be more to this story. It's not ok to scream and yell, but being strict with a large group of kids is not a bad thing and probably needed. We've had lots of activities, including music and you need strict and structured, especially for music but one issue we see in MS/HS band is the lack of teaching and kids need to know the instrument or be in private music lessons to be successful as in ES they teach individual instruments but not in MS/HS so many kids struggle.

For a band director, yes, it's ok. Otherwise chaos and mediocrity.

My child is in private orchestra and there is no yelling or screaming. It's not ok. He's to focused on being a digital content creator and its not ok to be filming his classes and broadcasting them. He's not screaming in what I saw but he's pretty flat and bland and putting on a show for the camera. He's not making the classes fun or engaging. And, not much instruction, a few comments and that's it.

Well, orchestra is inside while marching band is outside with literal moving pieces/students and isn’t marching band twice as big as orchestra.

[Anonymous]

As a former marching band kid (high school and four years of college), I'll say that it's not uncommon for the director to yell. It's a competitive thing, people put in a lot of time and honestly, the kids don't pay attention all the time and are annoying. I'm sure I was annoying. If you want to be competitive, you need discipline and marching band isn't for everyone.

I don't understand the commenters who were talking about having their marching band kids sit on the sideline and watch because the director didn't like them or something. It doesn't work like that. Bands have a tightly choreographed show that requires people to be exactly where they're supposed to be. You might have a few kids serve as extras who can pop into someone's spot if they got sick or broke something before a competition, but our band usually had some extra color guard types who'd just pretend to play an instrument.

[Anonymous]

Given the unsupportive responses on this thread, I can see why he got fired. A strict teacher? How mean!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has to be more to this story. It's not ok to scream and yell, but being strict with a large group of kids is not a bad thing and probably needed. We've had lots of activities, including music and you need strict and structured, especially for music but one issue we see in MS/HS band is the lack of teaching and kids need to know the instrument or be in private music lessons to be successful as in ES they teach individual instruments but not in MS/HS so many kids struggle.

For a band director, yes, it's ok. Otherwise chaos and mediocrity.

My child is in private orchestra and there is no yelling or screaming. It's not ok. He's to focused on being a digital content creator and its not ok to be filming his classes and broadcasting them. He's not screaming in what I saw but he's pretty flat and bland and putting on a show for the camera. He's not making the classes fun or engaging. And, not much instruction, a few comments and that's it.

Well, orchestra is inside while marching band is outside with literal moving pieces/students and isn’t marching band twice as big as orchestra.

Screaming outside is a bit different so kids can hear vs. scream and being negative. From what he posted there was very little engagement with the students and he was very flat. Ideally marching bad should have 100-200 kids if it's fun and engaging.

[Anonymous]

there is a lot more to this story. for instance, the Poe Middle School teacher making things up and disparaging the Annandale teacher and band kids. Holmes band teacher was also logging complaints because he wanted the high school kids treated like middle school kids. this is only a fraction of the crazy crap. lol the Poe teacher then interviewed for the position but didn’t get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former marching band kid (high school and four years of college), I'll say that it's not uncommon for the director to yell. It's a competitive thing, people put in a lot of time and honestly, the kids don't pay attention all the time and are annoying. I'm sure I was annoying. If you want to be competitive, you need discipline and marching band isn't for everyone.

I don't understand the commenters who were talking about having their marching band kids sit on the sideline and watch because the director didn't like them or something. It doesn't work like that. Bands have a tightly choreographed show that requires people to be exactly where they're supposed to be. You might have a few kids serve as extras who can pop into someone's spot if they got sick or broke something before a competition, but our band usually had some extra color guard types who'd just pretend to play an instrument.

Then you kick those kids out of marching band. No need to yell. You either play and behave or get kicked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has to be more to this story. It's not ok to scream and yell, but being strict with a large group of kids is not a bad thing and probably needed. We've had lots of activities, including music and you need strict and structured, especially for music but one issue we see in MS/HS band is the lack of teaching and kids need to know the instrument or be in private music lessons to be successful as in ES they teach individual instruments but not in MS/HS so many kids struggle.

For a band director, yes, it's ok. Otherwise chaos and mediocrity.

There is a difference between speaking loudly and forcefully vs. targeting and embarrassing students. A band director has to have a loud voice in order to be heard over the sounds of instruments. But, a band director does not have to be mean or demeaning to students. I don't know if this guy was harmful to the kids or incompetent.

I have a hard time believing he was targeted for removal just b/c he's AA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has to be more to this story. It's not ok to scream and yell, but being strict with a large group of kids is not a bad thing and probably needed. We've had lots of activities, including music and you need strict and structured, especially for music but one issue we see in MS/HS band is the lack of teaching and kids need to know the instrument or be in private music lessons to be successful as in ES they teach individual instruments but not in MS/HS so many kids struggle.

For a band director, yes, it's ok. Otherwise chaos and mediocrity.

There is a difference between speaking loudly and forcefully vs. targeting and embarrassing students. A band director has to have a loud voice in order to be heard over the sounds of instruments. But, a band director does not have to be mean or demeaning to students. I don't know if this guy was harmful to the kids or incompetent.

I have a hard time believing he was targeted for removal just b/c he's AA.

It's not exactly easy to find music teachers at a HS/higher level so I would find it hard to believe he was just targeted for race too. I would be concerned about him posting and filming live during school hours/classes, for one thing. Another posting his students on social media. I don't care what he personally posts and his personal beliefs but how the come into the classroom and how he interacts with the students is my concern, although I think its unprofessional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, we can only hear this guy’s version as the school is not able to share about personnel matters. Teachers are really difficult to hire right now, and there’s a lot that mediocre teachers can get away with simply because there are so few qualified candidates to replace them. In other words, he really had to be awful for administrators to go through this process. My educated guess is that the decision to non-renew was not done lightly and without specific evidence.

High School band positions are coveted in FCPS. There are many elementary and middle school teachers who have aspirations to teach at the HS level. I disagree in this case that there are few qualified candidates.

Sure, there may be many that want that position. But after June 1, there are no transfers unless a principal agrees to release the teacher. These days, many will not release because hiring behind is really tough, even for music teachers. Teachers have until June 15 to resign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the unsupportive responses on this thread, I can see why he got fired. A strict teacher? How mean!

He didn't look that strict in his videos, he seemed flat, dry, not engaging and very little actual teaching/instruction but maybe he was just playing it up for the camera.

[Anonymous]

He sounds passive agressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He sounds passive agressive.

No, in the WTOP article he sounds furious. That's not passive aggressive at all.