David Wing
David Wing is the Director of Bands at Venice High School in Florida.
Each year, Mr. Wing takes his marching band on a trip, including an international trip every 4 years—such as last year’s adventure to London for the New Year’s Day Parade. He also enjoys travel and cruises on his own time, embodying his motto, “life is short, take the trip.”
From the Nominator:
What qualities make this nominee deserving of this award?
Mr. Wing is extremely dedicated and committed to our band program and his students. He always strives to go above and beyond for his students every day. As a result, he expects a lot from his students. He always challenges them and wants them to also strive to be their best. He is always giving them amazing opportunities, like traveling to London.
He sets the bar high for his students, as he does for himself, making him an amazing role model for our kids. He puts in countless hours – in the classroom, after school rehearsals, he attends all outside concerts that his students are in (honor bands, etc.) He even travels all over the state to see alumni performing at their universities. His job doesn’t end at the end of the school day or year, he always supports his students, both current and former. That means a lot.
From David Wing:
Why are you passionate about student travel?
Students need to experience the world outside of their little city or town, in order for them to gain an international community.
What is a major highlight from any of your student travel experiences?
My major highlight is taking the band to perform and learn at the London New Years Day Parade. Not only did 150 kids perform in the marching band, but our Wind Ensemble performed in St. Johns Church—the church where Charles Dickens went. The students came back from this trip energized and excited about learning.
What is the greatest lesson you or your students have learned from your trips?
That music is a part of everyone’s journey and the ability to share that on the world stage is truly a gift. Seeing your world in a different lens with different people is something truly incredible.
How do you tie your travel experiences back into the classroom?
We prepare for our travel experiences through the music we choose. Not only performing it in our travels but for our entire community. For instance, we took the kids to London in December and our Fall Concert was titled “the British Invasion” where we performed music from the trip but also British music classics from classical to pop to TV. It was an amazing concert and it helped connect the students to the world stage before their big travel. We just performed in Orlando at Universal Studios and we performed the music of How To Train Your Dragon to coincide with the opening of Epic Universe. Creating connections to life experiences and music is so important to me!
Photo courtesy of David Wing.