School Notes with Swizz - A View From Behind the Desk

What's in a name? When I started my journey as a high school music educator, one of the first things my students said to me was that I needed a nickname. My predecessor and mentor was Mr. Taylor, affectionately known as T-Dogg. Having a nickname was a sign that the students accepted you and found a way to relate to you in their own personal way.

My top group, Wind Ensemble, had a few students who became very interested in finding just the right name for me. If you have ever tried to think of a band name with a small group of players, you can relate to this experience. However, we had around 50 or so students in that class at the time. It became very clear that this would not be an overnight decision.

The band took our annual trip to Los Angeles to march in the 2010 Hollywood Christmas Parade. During the second leg of that trip, the night before we took the students to SeaWorld in San Diego, a student, SE, started to call me Swizzle. He did his best to get his peers to join him in his quest to bestow upon me a name that would last for my high school career.

While in a small holiday boutique, SE approached my wife and said, " I am going to make Swizzle stick!" My wife, who has a great sense of humor, laughed profusely. She could tell that SE had no clue what a swizzle stick was. She was delighted to find a store with swizzle sticks and explained to SE what he said and why she laughed so hard. As a result of that encounter, SE earned the credit for being the student who finally found the nickname that would stay with me from that day forward. Over time, Sizzle morphed into Swizz, and the rest is history. SE had done it. He made his mark on my high school music career in a way that no one else could. It is with great affection that I share this tidbit of personal history with all of you to welcome you to my music education blog. 

Thanks for reading,

Brian K. Swetland aka Swizzle aka Swizz