Camille Gavin: It doesn't get any better than Panama-Buena Vista for an arts educator
| Tuesday, Feb 03 2009 06:20 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:30 PM
25th ANNUAL MUSIC MAKERS CONCERT
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: The theater at Rabobank Convention Center
Admission: Free
Information: 831-8331
•
ADVENTURES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE SERIES
What: “Pirates: Behind the Scenes”
When:
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday
Where:
Spotlight Theatre, 1622 19th St.
Admission: $5 to $10
Information:
634-0692
Images
Dennis Herbst credits a string of administrators at Panama-Buena Vista with supporting instruction in the arts.
Dennis Herbst is the coordinator of the Panama-Buena Vista School District's visual and performing arts programs and has been with the district for 40 years. Herbst rehearses with students at Thompson Junior High.
Dennis Herbst with the school band in the 1970-71 Thompson Junior High yearbook.
Way back in 1969, when trombonist Dennis Herbst was hired as a music teacher, most of the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District was surrounded by fields of alfalfa and cotton.
“It was farmland everywhere you looked; we used to have sheep grazing on the parking lot at Thompson Junior High,” said Herbst, recalling his early days at the school on Planz Road.
At the time, the district had only five schools and one music teacher.
“When I came, it was just me and Mildred Ryan — she taught vocal,” he said. “When she retired, I started teaching chorus, too. I taught everything, even strings. I’m a band director who loves orchestra.”
Today, the district has an estimated 16,500 students, five junior high schools and 17 elementary schools. Under Herbst’s direction, the visual and performing arts program has grown right along with it, as has the number of music instructors.
Budget concerns have caused most districts in the county to cut arts programs to the bone. But not Panama-Buena Vista. In fact, many look upon the quality of its program as the “gold standard” for local public schools.
“We are not the norm,” Herbst acknowledged. “Students in first through third grades are visited by a music specialist daily and every student gets music (instruction) multiple times a week.”
Even though the state budget is still in flux, he remains hopeful that Panama-Buena Vista can continue its current level of performing arts instruction.
“Nothing good has been going on in Sacramento for some time now,” he said. “Right now we’re in kind of a wait-and-see stage.”
Herbst, 63, credits all of the administrators he’s served under as well as the various boards of trustees over the years for making the program possible.
“The people have changed but the philosophy has remained the same. As an educator, it’s been a dream job.”
After four decades of service, Herbst still has a passion for what he does and has no immediate plans to retire.
“You can get a tremendous amount of validation out of teaching the arts,” he said. “It’s a personal joy to work day in and day out in something you love.”
This evening, about 800 students enrolled in the district’s vocal and instrumental music program will fill the stage for the 25th annual Music Makers concert at the theater at Rabobank Convention Center. It includes a choir, two bands, an orchestra and a separate group of string players, The Strolling Strings.
An array of music styles and periods is planned for the program. It ranges from such things as a Tijuana Brass Medley and the “Old Comrade” march to a selection from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”
It’s free and open to the public.
THEATRE ADVENTURES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
“Pirates: Behind the Scenes,” which opens Saturday, is the second in a new series called Theatre Adventures for Young People.
The series was created by the Spotlight School of Arts in response to a committee of mothers and grandmothers who wanted to foster in children — their own and others — an appreciation of the performing arts, said Guinevere PH Dethlefson, the coordinator.
“Pirates” is a play within a play about four adult actors who are getting ready to put on a production about pirates. As the action progresses, the actors add the necessary technical aspects, such as costumes, makeup, lights, sound, set and props.
“It becomes more magical and engaging as all the elements are added,” Dethlefson said, “so much so that a real pirate comes (onstage) and thinks we are really on his island.”
Also in the cast are Bob Kempf, David Rock and James Kopp. Final performances are scheduled for Feb. 14.
