Harelson Elementary

Essential Elements for Band

Essential Elements Interactive

• 8/23  Band Starts
• 8/24 Optional CDO Beginning Band Camp
• 8/28 Beginning Woodwinds
• 8/30 Beginning Brass/Percussion
• 9/4 Beginning Woodwinds
• 9/6 Beginning Brass/Percussion
• 9/11 Beginning Woodwinds
• 9/13 Beginning Brass/Percussion
• 9/18 Full Beginning band Wednesdays/Fridays for the rest of the year.
• 10/4 No Band (early release schedule)
• 12/4 Winter Concert 8:30-9:15 AM, 6:30-7:30 PM
• 2/26 CDO Band Festival Field Trip and concert
• 3/14 No Band (early release)
• 5/7 Spring Concert 8:30-9:15 AM, 6:30-7:30 PM

My name is Kristy Brower and I teach band and orchestra at six elementary schools within the Amphitheater School District.

I have 25 years of teaching experience in the following districts:

Amphitheater School District, Tucson Unified School District, Nogales School District, Sunnyside Unified School District

I have ensemble experience on all of the following instruments: flute, saxophone, mellophone, tuba and choir. I received 1st place in the state of Arizona for alto saxophone and 3rd place for flute performance. Performing in the musical styles of both classical and jazz, I received 2 soloist awards in the area of Jazz and Jazz improvisation. I was awarded college scholarships from the Young Sounds of Arizona for alto saxophone and from the University of Arizona for flute.

My desire to explore the world of music led me to branch out in the field of music education into teaching band, orchestra, singing, dancing, and acting. As a band and orchestra teacher, my ensembles have performed on TV twice, for Governor Hull, Mayor Walkup, in the OMA (Opening Minds Through the Arts) showcase, and was featured in an OMA production video that was distributed throughout the United States. In 2010, my general music program was featured on PBS in a special which promoted the value of music education within the culture of a community. I was also chosen by the OMA program to help create lessons for a music curriculum which will be sold to other schools and school districts across the United States. In 2020, I was a recipient of the Amphitheater School District's "Excellence in Teaching" award.

My current focus of growth within my career is writing my own supplemental method book for band and orchestra.

How and when did I decide to become a music teacher? My senior year of high school, in marching band, we didn't have any mellophone players except me. So, the band director went to every student that had expressed a desire to quit band and convinced them to change their instrument to mellophone and give it one more year before they quit. In this newly formed section, I taught them a brand new instrument from the basics on up. They became one of the best sections in the band and even earned a feature in the marching show that year! When marching band was over, they all gave me a gift and a card and told me, with tears, that I had made them into awesome musicians and they loved band again! It was at that moment that I decided I had a gift for teaching and I would become a music teacher.

• Raise Your Hand
• Make Music Not Noise
• Respect One Another
• Always Do Your Best
• Always Be Prepared
• Behavior is a part of the band contract.  Students may be permanently removed from the band for poor behavior or poor practice habits.  

• Play what I previously assigned.
• Students may play in groups of three
• If a student doesn't want to play in front of people, he/she can do the test after band or email the test using the EEInteractive website.
• Students get three chances to pass the test - except if it is being emailed using EEInteractive.  Then there are unlimited chances.
• If the student doesn't pass a test, he/she is NOT in trouble! All I care about is effort and commitment.

If a student does not pass a playing test

• The student will use a practice log that is in their band book.
• The parent will sign the practice log verifying they are practicing 1 hour per week.
• The student will keep doing a weekly practice log until they pass the test.
• As long as the student can prove that they are practicing, there is no consequence.
• If the student is more than 1 week late in turning in the practice log, he/she will get a strike against their behavior.