And the Band Played On

Jimio in the center with his Hungarian Pea-Shooter

This was my second year of highschool ,my Sophomore year, and it was also the first year of our new Band Director. It was his first year out of college so he was a little "green" behind the ears, so to speak.  The first few days of band were not going so well for Mr Band Director. Our class was yelling and talking, throwing paper wads and spit-balls, you know, the normal teacher "out of control" stuff. But then one day something amazing happened. In the middle of all this chaos, a tuba player stood up [this guy was a strong tall dude that nobody messed with] and yelled " Everybody sit down and shutup! I like this teacher. He's trying to be nice to us and this is my last year of school. I want to go to the band orchestra finals and take first place for once. Give him the respect and decency he deserves." Even his friend added a few remarks to back him up and to prove this wasn't a student takeover.
After that eventful day things improved greatly and we did go to Orchestra Finals. Got a 1 in District and a 2 in the State Finals. As I think back, I wish I had gone up to that tuba player after class and thanked him for getting our band  back on track. He did something I never had the guts to do. To this day I wonder how many other classes in other schools all over the USA or World for that matter, do kids try to help their teachers assume control again. Does it even happen today? I saw a documentary called "Chalk" where many teachers were losing control of their students. I think both teachers and students need to co-operate with each other and certain key students should step up to the plate and try to instill in fellow students the importance of a good education.