Everything Band: Episode 102 - Rachel Maxwell

Rachel Maxwell has enjoyed tremendous success as the Director of Bands at Traughber Junior High School in Oswego, Illinois where she teaches over 400 students in three bands.

Topics:

• The organization of the program at Traughber Middle School and how the growth of the town has changed her program during her tenure.
• Dividing bands strictly by grade levels and the goal to help every kid be successful regardless of their ability level and challenges.
• “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
• How teaching college music theory and aural skills relates to teaching band.
• Rachel’s background growing up in Rockford, Illinois and how the size of her horn case almost ended her musical career before it got started.
• The Traughber Band Literature Commision Project and how a conversation at the Chicago Hilton with John Mackey led to his work “The Sheltering Sky” and has continued with pieces from Donald Grantham, Scott McAllister, Dana Wilson, Julie Giroux, Randall Standridge, and David Biedenbender.
• #BandFamous

Links:

• Traughber Junior High School Band
• The Band Room
• Band Literature Commission Project
• Mackey: Sheltering Sky
• Queenwood Band Sets
• Standridge: Lullaby
• Donahue: Remember

Biography:
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Rachel J. Maxwell attended Illinois State University and graduated in 1993 (Summa Cum Laude) with a Bachelor`s Degree in Music Education. She received a Master of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois in 1997. In 2003 she completed a Master of Educational Leadership degree from Aurora University. Mrs. Maxwell has also completed additional coursework in team-building, leadership and working with diverse students. Mrs. Maxwell has taught band in the West Aurora School District (1993-95) and in the Oswego School District (1995-present).

Mrs. Maxwell currently serves as the Director of Bands at Traughber Junior High School and as the Junior High Band Coordinator for the district. She has taught music education courses at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago and North Central College in Naperville, IL and has been invited to be a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator at a number of music camps and festivals including the Music for All National Summer Symposium, the NC All-State Middle School Band, ISYM at the Univ. of Illinois, Il State Univ. Junior High Camp and several IMEA District Level Festivals.

She is also a part of the team from Oswego who commissioned and premiered Sheltering Sky (2012) by John Mackey , Sol ye Sombra (2014) by Donald Grantham, Atmosphere (2016) by Scott McAllister and Our Cast Aways (2018) Julie Giroux. She is also involved in several consortium commissions: Shubuduba (2017) by Dana Wilson and N-BEAM (2017) https://mobleyj.wixsite.com/nbeam, Frogs (2018) by Randall Standridge.

Under her direction the bands at Traughber JHS have received national acclaim and have performed at The Midwest Clinic (two clinic presentations and rehearsal lab group), the Illinois Music Educators Association All State Conference (three formal concerts and four clinic presentations), the University of Illinois Super-state Festival and at the ASBDA National Convention.

Rachel Maxwell is a member of the The National Association of Music Education, Illinois Music Educators Association, American School Band Directors Association, National Band Association, Phi Beta Mu, National Council of Supervisors of Music Education, and a number of honor societies. She is the recipient of the Who`s Who Among American Teachers Award, Who`s Who Among Emerging Leaders Award, Who`s Who In American Education Award, Who`s Who Among American Women Award, ASBDA/UMI Outstanding Young Band Director Award-Junior High Division for the North Central Region of the United States, Chicago-land Outstanding Music Educator, National Band Association Citation of Excellence, and the National Recipient of the Jim Ott (Drum Corps International) Scholarship. She also serves on the advisory team for the dynamic professional learning Facebook site Band Directors Group; A World-Wide Professional Learning Community and is the author of thebandroomspage.com.