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The History of Music Education

at

Buckeye Middle School 1984 -2003

by

Ruth Polcari

In partial

fulfillment of

History of Music Education

Music 601

July 1, 2003

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The History of Music Education at Buckeye Middle School 1984 -2003

By Ruth Polcari

The history of the Buckeye Schools in Redding, California has a sorted past. There is a

tremendous amount of name changing and shifting of students and locations which is

hard to trace. Through this convoluted history, there are stories of the rise and fall of

music programs within the district. To understand the dynamics of the school is to

understand those events that shaped the towns within Shasta County. There are lakes and

gold rushes, presidential visits, and cities such as Kennett (Fig. 1), which was founded as

a railroad town site in 1884 and later was submerged under Lake Shasta when the dam

was built.

Fig. 1 Kennett in 1884

Stories from administrators, newspaper reporters and music teachers intertwine to

collaborate this trek back in time. The picture of Buckeye is one of pride; winning

marching trophies and jazz band awards during the best years and suffering budget cuts

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and consolidation into a new district with hopes of regaining the reputation of a

successful music program.

The school was one of the first schools in Shasta County. It was on the route of one of the

oldest stage coach roads in northern California. This route crosses modern day school

playgrounds and parking lots throughout the northern Redding area. There are pictures of

the Buckeye Elementary schoolhouse as early as 1919, but the actual start date is unclear.

Fig 2. Buckeye Elementary

My quest for information brought me to Ken Matias, Superintendent of Schools from

1980-1998. The Buckeye School District was a one school district and was located at the

current Buckeye Elementary school site. The school had been a K-8 and pictures through

the Shasta Historical Society show the various names and sizes of the buildings where it

was housed (Fig. 2-3). The documentation and further information through this

organization was not detailed, although several hundred pictures are available to view for

the Shasta County area. Schools at Shasta Elementary (1853), Sequoia (1952) and Shasta

High are shown with limited text.

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The Shasta Lake Dam was built in 1949 and was to serve as a reservoir to provide water,

not only for farms, but factories and towns and also to generate power. This helped to

establish the City of Shasta Lake which did not become an incorporated town until much

later in 1993. There are several highlights of this region including President Kennedys

visit for the dedication of the Whiskeytown, California, Dam and Reservoir in September

28, 1963.The areas school bands will be performing in the fall 2003 celebration of his

visit.

The music teacher that was employed before and after the unification of the now

Gateway School District is Debbie Scott . Her interview was bittersweet as she described

the state of affairs with several schools combining throughout the county to make up one

music program. Her accomplishments are record-breaking and yet there were so many

reasons to leave in 1998. The program she developed included concert bands, marching

bands, jazz bands, pop groups, and various small ensembles. Her teamwork with several

secondary instructors and support of her administration has been praised. The work

included reaching out to the community and gathering support from parents to raise the

necessary funds to build the band program.

The community primarily consists of low income parents and many of them never went

beyond a high school education. This instructor was able to bring the parents aboard and

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make music in the schools a high priority. Mrs. Scott talked about the constant struggle to

keep the program alive.

The students at Central Valley Intermediate were the stronger group. The band

was from fifteen to twenty students strong. Then there were the students from

Buckeye Middle School that were always less experienced and fewer numbers. I

think we had no more than ten students in the advanced band program. With both

schools together as the Gateway Marching Band, we were able to take first place

in most of the parades. We were able to take trips to Reno and festivals in

California. Without the schools together, I doubt we would have been able to

perform so many gigs and do so well. But I had to work so hard to keep the

parents dedicated to the program.

Nova High School was created in 1967 as a center for high school freshman. The school

housed all of Shasta County freshman until 1991. The idea of the school was to provide a

safe haven for freshman without the distraction or worry of upper classmen. The music

programs were huge and concerts joined the Enterprise High School to perform as the

Enterprise Nova band and choir, Nova jazz choir, clarinet ensemble, Elegance girls choir

and Enterprise Starship.

Mrs. Scott also expressed her views on the experimental Nova High School.

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Nova was not a good idea, in my opinion. The kids thought they were it, you

know, like the big fish and they got a sense of being the best players but that was

only because there were no upper classmen. They had a hard awakening when

they went on to the high schools and found that they were not the top players

anymore.

The Shasta Lake Dam was built in 1949 and was to serve as a reservoir to provide water,

not only for farms, but factories and towns and also to generate power. This helped to

establish the City of Shasta Lake.

Fig. 3 Buckeye School

Superintendent Matias admitted to stealing the music teacher at nearby Columbia School

District where his wife, Linda, worked. That music teacher was Debbie Scott. She had

been teaching since 1971, moving to different schools every two to three years due to

budget cuts and loss of support for music. In 1984, Mrs. Scott taught at three schools;

Buckeye Elementary, Buckeye Middle, and Central Valley Intermediate (CVI). The music

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program offered K-6 classroom music, Band 5-8, and choir (1 year only). The winter and

spring concerts were high priorities, but also there was the jazz competition in Reno, NV

which was a successful venture.

Mrs. Scott primarily taught classical music, although did try a singing and dancing group

for one year. Flag teams, and of course marching bands performed for every local parade.

The band rooms came in all shapes and sizes. Some school sites made available the gym

while others provided a single module trailer band room that was a tight fit for the band.

The schools she taught at changed to Buckeye Middle, Deer Creek Elementary, and CVI.

Mr. Matias was the superintendent for these schools plus Toyon and Project City schools

and supported the unification of a new district. Since the Central Valley High (CVH)

school was part of the Shasta Unified District and the low income families lived in this

area, there seemed to be a tendency to provide the higher income level schools with new

equipment, passing the old instruments and supplies to CVH. The program flourished

with Mrs. Scotts leadership and soon the school was performing in bigger events, such as

the Shasta Dixieland Jazz Festival.

The Central Valley Intermediate Jazz Band, which has 15 seventh- and eighth-

grade musicians, is one example of how jazz is enjoying a rebirth among north

state young people. Instrumental instructor Debbie Scott formed the group two

years ago to fulfill a personal goal. ""I played in a jazz band at Central Valley

High (as a student). It was my dream to come back to Central Valley and form a

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jazz band.'' Because it's rather unusual for an intermediate band to concentrate on

jazz, Ms. Scott said she eased her students into the style. ""I tried to work the kids

into it. In the beginning, I got popular music they like. Then I started bringing in

jazz standards.'' Now, they love it. ""They think it's great. In fact, when I call my

practices, I have no problem at all getting them to show.'' The Central Valley

student musicians have their work cut out for them, Ms. Scott said. ""Most of the

music we play is high school music. There's not a lot of music written for

intermediate bands." (Record Searchlight, April 4, 1991)

The community, as Mr. Matias explained, wanted unification and after several years

became the Gateway Unified School District in 1992. He was asked to stay on to help the

transition. This new district brought many advantages to the music program. The funding

for new marching uniforms, new instruments, and trips became available. The support

from the administration and the funds helped to bring music into the school curriculum.

California is one of the few states that does not have a K-12 district. The music program

became strong in the high school and Mr. Matias supported the bands and choirs as his

own children were involved. Also, his high school experience in Arcadia schools

involved Madrigals and other musical endeavors.He was presented with the district'sannual ``The Eyes of Music and the Arts'' plaque for his dedication to the music program.

The district purchased Orff instruments and there was an Instructional Aid that taught

music at one elementary school. Classroom music was taught by the classroom teachers

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for K-2. For example, one teacher in the Gateway District at Project City Elementary, is

one who has incorporated art and music in yearlong projects called ``The Rainforest.''

Her second-grade students build to a year-end presentation for fellow students and

parents that includes science, social studies, writing, spelling, reading, geography, art and

music - all the school subjects but math. The teacher has used the rain forest theme for

her integrated teaching approach. This type of curriculum based instruction comes back

as a new idea in the spring of 2003 for Buckeye Middle School.

The high school director had a military background and developed several bands that

played gigs throughout northern California. Unfortunately, the directors moved on to

greener pastures, especially with a new wave of budget crunches in the mid to late

1990s. The fall of the music program began as several music directors came only to stay

for a year or two before moving on to school districts with more financial support.

Mr. Matias described the support of the community as strong and the boosters raised

money for uniforms and trips, even for those less fortunate. But the lack of direction with

new, inexperienced band instructors coupled with the cut back programs began to weigh

heavily on the town.

In frustration of the changes within the district and specifically at the high school, Mrs.

Scott found it difficult to stay on board. Teachers in the 3,800-student district -- which

now included campuses in north Redding, Shasta Lake and Lakehead did not get a pay

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raise from 1992 through 1995. Students were not continuing in music at the secondary

level and when an opening at the rival Redding School District became available, she felt

it was her time to move on. The offer was too good to refuse, working in a much bigger

district with more money and opportunities for students.

Deanna Palmer replaced Mrs. Scott and walked into a program with high standards and

parental support. The strength of the band was good, but changes in the school makeup

created problems for music. The need for a music teacher in the classrooms and choir

changed the dynamics of the overall program. Jennie Morgan was hired to teach in eight

schools per week, rotating through elementary schools while maintaining two middle

school choirs.

Soon the district was suffering from more financial woes, parents saw programs being cut

and felt their students should have more opportunities elsewhere. Requests for Inter-

district transfers were plentiful and administrators felt the need to freeze new requests.

Although the two teachers worked well together, there were problems with scheduling

and ultimately the students suffered as the pull-out program was used at the elementary

school. The students were allowed to join band only if their other school work was up to

date and that they were willing to make up all work while out of class for band. The

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teachers were given the authority to all students to band one week, and retain them the

next if any work was missing or not up to their standards.

Soon students were not showing up on a regular basis and instruments that were available

for checkout at the beginning of the year were being used by these no shows. Abuse of

instruments, disrespect for the music program, and soon the reaction of the teacher began

the turn in the music program. Miss Palmer left that next year to teach at a nearby high

school in another district.

Elizabeth Dykstra was hired to teach only band at CVI, Deer Creek Elementary, and

Buckeye Middle School. Students were upset with yet another new teacher, especially as

the rival Sequoia Middle school in downtown Redding was thriving under Deb Scotts

direction. Within the first month, problems occurred with students and

The fall of 2000 brought on many changes for the music students of Gateway Unified

School District. The returning instructor had numerous personal events that changed her

career path and most importantly caused her to leave the school mid-semester. The school

was unable to find a qualified teacher and hired temporary substitutes to teach band at

CVI, Deer Creek Elementary, and Buckeye Middle Schools. Each of these substitutes did

not last, for various reasons, and the music program suffered. This is where I entered the

picture as my husband had already moved to Redding as the Instrumental Teacher at

Shasta High School. My experience was limited as a public school instructor and the

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district offered an Internship position. The California State University at Chico program

allows a student to be teacher on record with full pay and benefits while taking classes on

the weekends and summers (2 year program).

It was November of that same year when I became the teacher for Buckeye Middle

School. There had been no classroom management, school provided instruments were

being exchanged within the class, and students were physically all over the room working

on their own. The recovery was painful but necessary. Beginning band students at CVI

were mixed in with the advanced band due to the schedule. Teaching music was not the

first priority, managing the classroom and directing the full brunt of their anger into

creative output was my main concern. The hurt of being abandoned by so many teachers

in a short amount of time rang out loud and clear to me. The students seemed surprised to

learn at the end of the year that I planned to see them again in the fall. The harsh reality

was that the students were aware of the attitude towards them from the past teachers. The

school and community had been subject to judgmental and unfair criticism.

The following year brought on consolidation of CVI and Deer Creek and then there were

only two schools within the middle school band program. New classrooms and new

schedules caused more challenges to the program. New administrators with new ideas

brought on different directions. Within three years, the school population had changed

names, locations, and personnel as many times. Fall 2003 will be the first year that

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Buckeye Middle School Music program will have the opportunity to flourish with only

one instructor and finally, an opportunity to start from scratch.

So begins my journey; not to win over the students or bring trophies and awards back to

the district, but rather to mend and strengthen the students belief in themselves through

performance and discipline of the instrumental music program Buckeye Middle School.

References

Debbie Scott, Band director, interviewed on June 22, 2003 in Redding, CA

Fifty Years of Damboree, 1951-2001 publication by City of Shasta Lake, 2001 Shasta

Damboree Executive Board.

Frisbie, Mable Moores and Beauchamp, Jean Moores, Shasta: The Queen City,

California Historic Society for Shasta Historical Society, 1973

John F. Kennedy, 1963, Remarks at the Dedication of the Whiskeytown, California, Dam

and Reservoir. September 28, 1963. Recording of dedication speech available from

World Wide Web: http://www.nps.gov/whis/exp/kennedyM/JFK%20Speech%20text.htm

http://www.nps.gov/whis/exp/kennedyM/JFK%20Speech%20text.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/whis/exp/kennedyM/JFK%20Speech%20text.htm

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Ken Matais, Superintendent of Schools, Gateway Unified School District 1980-1998

Interviewed on June 23, 2003 in Redding, Ca

Shasta Historical Society (1930), Available from World Wide Web: (http://

www.shastahistoryical.org)

The History of Shasta Elementary School, 1853-2003. Facts about Shasta Elementarys

history complied by Patti Furnari, teacher at Shasta from 1980-2000.

http://www.shastahistoryical.org/http://www.shastahistoryical.org/http://www.shastahistoryical.org/http://www.shastahistoryical.org/