“To be considered as one of the top teachers is really an honor,” he said.
He began teaching literature and English in high school in 1989.
“Later on I taught junior high, same subjects. But my degree has been in music so I was ultimately hoping to be full time teaching in a band room like this,” DeWitt said.
He has 150 students in the band program of Saipan Southern High School.
“All day long I’m teaching them various levels of skills, the beginning bands, the intermediate bands, or the advanced bands,” he said.
Since music is an elective class, the students can choose to join the band at any point in their high school career.
It’s not hard for children to be interested in music, according to DeWitt.
“It’s really not as hard as it might seem. It’s a very musical culture. It is an elective course so the students who are in my class have chosen it,” he said.
DeWitt plays all the instruments that he teaches.
“Brass was what I started on when I was at their age in a school band and since that time I learned how to play woodwind instruments, sax, flute, even percussion,” he said.
He carefully plans for what each class is doing.
“My goal is to give them the same skills I was given,” he said.
Each student is assessed based on their level of musicianship and sight reading.
“That includes things like playing at the right volume level with each other so that the blend is good. And it’s not one section competing with another section, “Dewitt said.
But before students play any instrument, they have to demonstrate over a period of six to eight weeks a knowledge and understanding of how to read music.
“The first or two months are spent just on teaching them how to read music well,” he said.
He said when a student learns to read music he becomes more independent.
“They can make music a life-long quest with or without an instructor,” DeWitt said.
Whenever he sees his students perform or join competitions he feels fulfilled.
“I get a lot more satisfaction on seeing them successfully perform. And that’s just amazing. It’s a testament to their hard work. They believe in themselves, they believe in me and we just work together as a team,” he said.
