News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Jody Henderson built an outstanding band program in Sisters schools.
The teacher once called "the soul of Sisters High School" has resigned to take a teaching job in Woodstock, Vermont.
The announcement of Jody Henderson's resignation was made to great regret at last Wednesday's school board meeting. The renowned music teacher has been in the Sisters School District for 15 years, creating what Superintendent Jim Golden described as one of the strongest music programs in the state.
"The good news for Jody is that both Blake and Jared go to school in the Boston area, so he will be within a couple of hours of two of his three children, and Jane, his youngest will be starting high school, so if he had to move it is probably the right time," Golden said.
Jared, a phenomenal bass player, is attending Berklee College of Music. He's just one of many of Henderson's students who have gone on to prestigious music programs. His bands have won festival championships and are always highly regarded by judges in competitions.
For Henderson, results like these mean he has succeeded in his goal as a music educator: he has inspired his students the way his teachers inspired him.
"I want to make kids feel the same way about music as somebody made me feel about music," Henderson told The Nugget in a profile for the Sisters Oregon Guide. "I want to make kids feel about themselves the way someone made me feel about myself through music."
Inspired by Louis Armstrong and "an awesome middle school band teacher," Henderson decided in the fifth grade that he wanted to become a professional trumpet player. That dream shifted to teaching music, and he put himself through school while working as a pipefitter.
Former Sisters High School Principal Bob Macauley said that Henderson was "the best coach in the district - and he may be the best person I know."
School board vice chairman Glen Lasken summed up the views of the board, which reluctantly accepted Henderson's resignation:
"Jody was so much more than the band teacher. He was the person that really touched kids lives. He made a difference in a lot of kids lives. He is just an amazing person."
In a letter to students in the music program, Henderson wrote: "The quality of life my family and I have been able to experience here in Sisters could never be surpassed. To say I will have great memories of my time here would not even slightly address my feelings. What would be memories had I been anywhere else, are complete and permanent impressions because I've been in Sisters.
It has been a gift to be a part of the superior sense of community, which has set Sisters apart from anywhere else I've ever known."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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