A "Thank You" Band

It was the our last marching band rehearsal of the 2016 marching band season. The show that year was titled “The Power of One,” a show about how one step, one voice, and one life can have a huge impact. The show employed several large backdrops, that for the majority of the show simply said “The Power of One.” At the beginning of the closer we turned the backdrops around to reveal large pictures of people who have changed the world in a variety of ways.

What I didn’t know was that for several weeks the students had planned a surprise for me. They had all donated money to have a new backdrop screen made, and during rehearsal that day the band parents had quietly replaced the picture of Steve Jobs with…Steve Hendricks. Somehow they kept it a secret until the final run of that final rehearsal, when the big reveal happened. As soon as the show finished, instead of holding attention they all yelled, “Thank you, Mr. Hendricks!” To put it mildly, I was overwhelmed For one of the few times in my life I was completely speechless. It took some convincing, but I ultimately let them leave my picture up for our state championship run that evening. Steve Jobs did return for the Bands of America regional the following day!

This is just one example of the many times my students showed their gratitude. I saw it in the food line at band camp, where our volunteer parents heard “thank you” at least 200 times at every meal. I heard it when my students got off the buses following competitions. I heard it expressed to staff members at the conclusion of rehearsal. In fact, I heard those two precious words so often that I started calling my band a “Thank You Band.”

Our 2016 show was about the power of one, but it was the power of two words that made it memorable for me. So memorable, in fact, that in 2017 I chose to say “Thank You” with my final show at Davis.

We didn’t have a monopoly on the “Thank You Band” at Davis. Why do I know this? Because since retirement I have worked with students from over a hundred bands. In EVERY instance I have been told “Thank You” many times. It doesn’t matter where I am, the Thank You culture is always there.

Does band teach the importance of showing gratitude, or are band kids, by nature, grateful? I don’t know that answer, but I do know that there is incredible power in the two words “Thank You.” I also know that band kids continue to show gratitude after they graduate and move on. In fact, I just received a letter of thanks yesterday from a student who graduated ten years ago.

So what do you do with a huge piece of vinyl with your picture on it? I had the students sign it at our marching band party that year. Now I had a huge, rolled up piece of vinyl so full of memories that I couldn’t discard it. For the next four years it stayed rolled up in our garage until my wife had the bright idea to put it up on the wall in the unfinished room of the basement where I exercise each day. Every time I look at the many “Thank You” notes written on that backdrop I am reminded how blessed I was to teach a “Thank You Band.”