0
0
Band director Dr. Kenneth Moore retires after 25 years at DHS
WRITTEN BY ELENA LU, NICK DOLETZKY, AND EVAN BOWER
From marching performances to concerts to Band Extravaganza to the Chicago trip, Dr. Moore has fundamentally shaped the Dexter band program. Moore has been teaching at Dexter for twenty-five years, and his bands have never achieved less than a first-division rating at the MSBOA festival.
“We were already crying before he made the announcement.”
Sophomore Emily Charles recalls the moment this February when she learned that band director Dr. Kenneth Moore was retiring. When she first met him in sixth grade for a playing test, she thought he was “the scariest person ever.” However, her perception quickly changed when she entered high school. She could tell that Moore genuinely cared about his students. Over the next two years, she grew to value his compassionate and practical teaching style, and she worked alongside him as a flute section leader last year.
SAY CHEESE: Moore smiles for a selfie with DHS sophomore Emily Charles during the band’s trip to Chicago.
Moore has worked at Dexter High School since accepting the position of high school band teacher in 1991.
“Not once in the last twenty-five years have I regretted that decision,” Moore writes in his farewell address to the community. “Being the director of bands at Dexter High School has been the greatest professional honor of my life.”
However, in recent years, Moore’s mother has faced growing health challenges. He expected to retire years ago but decided to postpone his plans to see the band program through COVID-19. Moore plans to spend time with his mother and continue working, although he doesn’t know exactly what his retirement will look like yet.
“I’m not old. But I’m old enough that I’m getting pulled in a lot of different directions personally, professionally,” Moore explains. “It’s just too much for me to continue to do the kind of job I want to do here.”
Moore’s time at DHS has been filled with unforgettable moments. He recalls Disney World band trips, band camps, elite music conferences, and twenty-five consecutive years of first-division ratings at the district MSBOA festival. Yet beyond trips and awards, Moore’s favorite part of being a band teacher is the rapport he has with students. While he admits to occasional doubts about his ability to relate to teenagers, his fondest memories at DHS come from spending time with students and making music together. Since most students join the band as fifth graders, Moore has a unique opportunity to observe and guide them as they develop over eight years.
“Watching young people mature and form their own dreams and get better as people is a lot of fun,” Moore says. “It’s very gratifying.”
ONE LAST TIME: Moore performs a trumpet solo with the jazz band at Band Extravaganza, Dexter’s annual student band showcase.
Moore has been pursuing his own dreams since the eighth grade, when he began to play the trumpet. Moore shares that his middle school band teacher, Jay Stuart, made every class fun and inspired him with his passion for music. By the age of 16, Moore was set on a career in musical education.
Moore has shared invaluable life lessons with his students.
In his farewell address, he reminds students to “remember the life principles that I’ve mentioned so often: do what you are supposed to do, live with integrity, treat others as you want to them to treat you, keep music in your life … and [remember] you are not the center of the universe.”
The lessons come directly from Moore’s list of expectations and guidelines included in the band syllabus each year, entitled “Dr. Moore’s Rules of Civility, or How to Succeed in Band and in Life.”
Students aren’t the only ones who have benefited from Moore’s time at DHS—Moore explains that he has greatly enjoyed working with and learning from students.
“I am blessed to have one of the best band directing jobs in the state,” he says, “and it’s because the students are so awesome and the parents and community are so supportive.”
However, Moore doesn’t take the community’s support for granted. In his farewell address, he makes a final request to the community: keep supporting the band program as it transitions to new leadership.
“Band programs are fragile things, and one bad decision made at a crisis moment can cause the entire program to crumble,” Moore warns. “The program belongs to you, the community of Dexter, and it’s up to you to keep it strong and vibrant.”
All photos by Melanie Reyes
