Jamestown Public Schools band directors Meghan Murray, Carrie Pawelski and Gina Wakefield are pictured.

Jamestown Public Schools’ band directors Meghan Murray, Carrie Pawelski, Gina Wakefield and Marc Lentsch presented at the New York State School Music Association annual conference recently in Rochester.

JPS teachers were selected out of thousands of applicants to present to other music teachers from all over the state on how to achieve success through music.

“Despite many hurdles, we have been able to attract and engage students of all backgrounds and help them find ways to succeed both in and out of the classroom,” said the band directors. “The goal of applying to present at this conference was to share our ideas and strategies with other music teachers across the state who may be dealing with similar obstacles. We were thrilled when we discovered we were accepted to present! Presenting to a standing room only crowd, it was a humbling experience to have other music teachers tell us how impactful our presentation was and how they planned to take our strategies back to their own programs.”

The JPS band directors’ presentation discussed ways to create a band culture of excellence and success amidst various hurdles. The heart of the presentation is that the skills learned in their band program tend to be universal in nature and can be helpful not only in creating a great band, but also in helping students overcome difficulties to be successful in life.