http://ipraudio.interlochen.org/LarimerRetires_WEB.mp3
With the retirement of two teachers, there will be big changes for an area high school well known for its band and choir programs. Choir Director Russ Larimer and Band Director Pat Brumbaugh are leaving Traverse City West. The school will lose a little more than two good teachers. As IPR's Brad Aspey reports, part of the programs' success was how the teachers worked as a team.
It's a late weekday morning just about a week before school ends for the summer and TCAPS Choir Director Russ Larimer is putting a group of young singers through their paces. After 26 years, Larimer is retiring. He regularly oversaw classes, concerts, elaborate Madrigal dinners and the full staging of musicals.
But now, Larimer says, it's time to lay down his baton.
Larimer says, "The worst thing that I could do would be to hang in past my prime because then the program descends along with the grind on myself and nobody wins."
At the same time, Larimer was instrumental in choosing a successor: a man who was choir director for a downstate district that could rival the quality found at TC West.
Larimer says, "I don't know that I would wish this on any new teacher (laughs). The program has grown to the extent that it's a real monster and you just want to really have a lot of years of experience under your belt before you take this on."
It's a monster he created in the choir department. But principal Joe Tebaldi says Larimer's standards set the stage for other departments too.
Joe says, "That carried over to the rest of the school, I think. So I think Russ, because of the excellence he brought to our school from the get-go, and the performances we were able to do, all of us, the whole community, our students, our staff, all raised the bar and said, 'We can do a lot of these things across the board for all of our students.'"
Larimer has been at the school since it opened in 1997. Pat Brumbaugh started directing the bands 13 years later. Together, Tebaldi says, Brumbaugh and Larimer created a synergy that elevated both programs.
Joe says, "I think what Pat did is take a look at what Russ had accomplished and said, 'You know what? Those kids are in this building too. There's no reason we can't get our band program the same level that our choral program is.'"
Neither Larimer nor Brumbaugh say much to celebrate their own work. But Brumbaugh is quick to compliment her longtime colleague.
Pat says, "You can't just put anybody in front of of group of kids and have it happen, have the magic happen, have the music happen. It takes somebody like Russ with the personality and the knowledge and the leadership skills, just the ability to pull that out of the students, getting a culture of private lessons going, getting the best out of them."
Russ says, "Well, Pat and I share similar dreams. I think that's why we've gotten along so well together as colleagues. When one of us is going for a particular initiative or working toward a particular performance and we need the flex of working towards that it's a non-discussion item, it's an immediate, 'Let's make this happen.'"
With two new teachers coming in, it remains to be seen if that synergy between programs will continue. But for Brumbaugh the concern now is how to handle all that free time.
Pat says, "I'm looking forward to it in a way. There's a new life out there that I'm anxious to get at. (I'm) a little apprehensive about how I'm going to handle that, of not being constantly busy or being around students because they keep us young. They really do."
Larimer's looking forward to spending more time with his family. And Brumbaugh has stacks of "Law and Order" DVDs to get to.