Retirement and the End of an Era

We usually don't do this on the sports blog (not talk about sports haha), but I would like to take a moment to recognize someone who has been an inspiration for me throughout High School.

Everybody knows that Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement yesterday, after over 20 years in baseball as one of the feared hitters. Without a doubt, Griffey had the best left handed swing that anyone watching baseball has ever seen. Most importantly, Griffey is a first-ballot hall of famer. You can put your money on that. While we celebrate one of baseball's best's retirement, we wish him good luck and say thanks for the memories, as we do with all sports retirees. But that's when we realize, they're gone. We lose our childhood icon, our inspiration, our heroes, the figure we always wanted to be from the game, but not from the mind and heart. It's not just Ken Griffey Jr., it's all the sports heroes we've watched have to walk away from the game. It's not until they finally leave the game do we realize that we've witnessed the end of a remarkable era. (I think this could be subject to edit....)

Introducing Mr. Gordon Russell, a.k.a. Mr. Russell, the music teacher. Mr. Russel has been the music teacher at my high school, Somers, for 11 years. This year however, Mr. Russell announced his retirement, and that this would be his last year teaching music at Somers High School. When he told our class face-to-face about his decision, I couldn't help but feel saddened. Others felt happy for Mr. Russell to leave and enjoy his retirement. I felt the same, but I didn't want Mr. Russell to leave yet. After tonight's Spring Concert, I realized how much I would miss Mr. Russell and how much he meant to our school district.

2006-07, 8th Grade

I was in 8th grade at Somers Middle School and even then I had heard of Mr. Russell. I had a friend, Peter, who had been my neighbor and best friend since we were six years old. Peter was a year older than me and was in his first year of high school. Everyday that I would see him, I would ask Peter about the high school: what's it like? how are the teachers? is there a lot of homework? is the food good? and so on and so forth. Peter, like myself, was a big music guy, and still is to this day. He influenced me to pick up the guitar and become affiliated with musical study. When I would ask him about music classes at the high school (I was almost certain that I wanted to be a musician) he told me that, while he hadn't taken any music classes (normally freshman can't take the guitar class, with the exception of this present year) he would go the music room frequently and jam on the guitars and talk with the music teacher, Mr. Russell. Peter had nothing but nice things to say about Mr. Russell, and I was very eager to meet him as an incoming freshman. Peter has since moved to Los Angeles, California.

2007-08, Freshman Year

High school. It really was what everyone said it was. Drama, drama, drama. I felt uncomfortable my first year in high school, what with new classes, new teachers, and intimidating upperclassmen. As well, Peter had moved away that summer, so I had not upperclassmen friends besides my now good friend, Hayden Carnaghi. Hayden, also an avid musical guy, played the drums and took classes with Mr. Russell, including the Jazz Band. When the elective sheets came out for sophomore year, I told Hayden that I wanted to enroll in the guitar class. In order for this to happen, I had to go talk to Mr. Russell. Hayden walked me to the room (which was and is still huge!) and right before we got to the doors said "It's all you," and scurried away. Oh boy was I nervous. I'm a pretty shy guy when it comes to meeting new people, and I didn't want to leave Mr. Russell with a bad first impression, especially being a freshman and at the bottom of the high school food chain. So I walked in, sheet clutched in my hands and knocked on the door located in Mr. Russell's room. I knocked. "Come on in man!" is what I heard. I opened the door. "Mr. Russell?" I asked, nervous. "Hello, what's your name man?" said Mr. Russell. "I'm Josh Handszer and-" he gripped my hand. "Nice to meet you dude!" he said, a beaming smile on his face. From then on I asked him about enrolling in the class and how the class was run. He explained and signed off on it. After our brief talk, I regularly went into the music room and worked in the practice rooms playing one of Mr. Russell's many acoustic guitars. One day he even walked in on me and complimented my playing. I couldn't wait until sophomore year.

2008-09, Sophomore Year

It was the summer, and I got my schedule. I saw GUITAR LEVEL 1 on my schedule for 8th period everyday for the first half of the year. I was ecstatic. The first day of school came and I couldn't wait till 8th period. Finally it came. I walked into the room, ready to jam. We all sat down and Mr. Russell called out our names. When he got to me he said "Hey I remember you Josh! Hey Josh, how are you?!" I felt really humbled that he remembered me and tried to play it down. I was ready to jam, ready to rock out with my friends in the class. I had no idea what I was in store for. I expected AC/DC, I got Ode to Joy. I think that's what most of us thought that class would be, rock n' roll. Everyday for homework our assignment was to work on our songs and then we would play them the next day. We all thought, "hey if he can't hear us when we all play together and we don't know the song, then we're in the clear!" It was not to be. I remember on one certain day, the class played so badly together that Mr. Russell made each of us play the song alone. Most of us failed and received F's. I turned to my good friend Jack and said "We're never going to survive this class dude." That's when I realized that guitar class wasn't just an easy A, or how well you played. It was about how dedicated you were to the music and how to understand it. I saw when Mr. Russell spoke how passionate he was about this class. Throughout that year, Mr. Russell and I made our bond stronger and began to talk regularly, seeing as I had his class daily. Everyday Jack and I would go into the music room during 9th period, while he was teaching music theory, and grab two guitars and practice in the practice rooms. After his class was over, we would put the guitars away and he would either compliment or criticize what he heard. Most of it was criticism as I regularly heard "Josh, did you put this guitar in Drop D?" And from that day forward, every time Mr. Russell finds a guitar in drop D tuning, he looks at me and laughs. We spoke regularly, even after the course was over and I had a different class the second half of the year. I realized that Mr. Russell was a teacher I could talk to, even if it wasn't just about music, it could be small talk or anything and he would listen to me. I realized that I wanted to take more classes from him and that he was one of my favorite teachers. Elective sheets came out for junior year. I knew exactly what I was going to do.

2009-10, Junior Year

What a ride this school year has been. Following my sophomore year, I signed up for music theory and guitar level 2 with Mr. Russell. I was very excited, expecting two easy A's. Man, was I downright wrong. I strolled into the theory class with Jack, the both of us thinking "we're going to ace this class." I saw Mr. Russell on my first day and we talked about our summers and I told him how excited I was for this class. He chuckled at that. I now see why. Over the course of the year I've realized that a) I have weak musical study skills and b) I did myself a disservice by not taking music theory seriously. At the beginning of the year, Mr. Russell warned us that it would be a difficult class and that it took lots of hard work. I day dreamed as he said this. Hell, I was gonna get an A right? Wrong. As the first few weeks rolled on, I became confused and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. However, everyone else got it. That's when I began to stay after school with Mr. Russell a few times, and bookmarked musictheory.net on my Internet browser. Through our sessions, and our talks (mainly when I told him how much trouble I was having) I could see that he truly did care and that he wanted to help me, not matter how much work it would take. I saw that I wasn't "just another student", and I guess throughout the year I saw that he never sought any student out particularly, which was why I had so much respect for him. He treated everyone the same way, regardless of their musical ability. As I continued to struggle and somewhat improve, the second half of the year started and beginning was guitar level 2. I was mad excited. The course this year ran pretty much the same as last year, except this year was way more frustrating. There were some times where Mr. Russell would get angry at the class because, flat out, we didn't practice. I could see how upset he was with us and felt guilty for letting him down in not just guitar class, but in music theory as well. I wanted to improve and I didn't want Mr. Russell to think that I accepted mediocrity.

The Big News

The class began to pick it up, preparing for the Spring Concert. We felt confident and felt that we were in great shape. In theory, we were doing tons of packets on different chords. We prayed each day that we wouldn't get another packet, but rest assured there was a warm fresh copy waiting for us. A lot of people were complaining, myself included, but I realized Mr. Russell was only doing it to help us become better students. A couple of weeks ago however, we got the big news. Mr. Russell sat down with us in class (both guitar and theory) and told us that he was retiring after 11 years. The classroom was silent. He explained his future plans, and while I was happy for Mr. Russell, I was also sad that I was losing one of my favorite teachers and mentors and that I wouldn't have him next year as a senior. A couple of days after that talk, I met one-on-one with Mr. Russell during guitar class. I had previously taken a trip to the west coast during spring break, and thought to myself "why would I go back east?" I wanted to live our there after college and start a new life. After he had told us that he wanted to be "West Coast Bound" for the future, I felt some relation to where he wanted to be. Anyway, we talked and I asked him why he wanted to go out west. He explained to me and asked me why I had asked and I told him that I wanted to go out west after college, but that my parents were wary with that decision and that it would be hard leaving everything behind and starting over. The words Mr. Russell told me will stay in my mind forever: "It's your life man, and you need to do what makes you happy. If going out west is what will make you happy, you do it. You can do anything if you put the right mindset to it. I know that after our years together that you've got the determination and mindset of someone who can make it to do what makes them happy." We ended up taking up 10 minutes of class time. Those words will forever be in my head, and I hope that one day, if I do become a sports writer, that I can always reference these words.

The Concert, June 3, 2010

Tonight was the night. The night of the Spring Concert, and Mr. Russell's last "hurrah." Our guitar class was scheduled to perform and we had been working extremely hard. After our hard times in class and funny moments, we were confident that we would succeed. We were scheduled to play second, so we had to watch the Band play first. I was in awe, they were amazing. But perhaps what I noticed most, was how passionate Mr. Russell was, standing on the conductor's box and waving the pointer. He showed great might and enthusiasm and occasionally cracked a smile. I gotta say though, some of his moves made me laugh. We finished our performance, satisfied, dispersed into the hallways. Most of our class went home, however I stayed with my family as I was eager to see the Jazz Band perform (I really wanted to see Hayden's drumming!). I was amazed by the performance. Before the last song, a senior in the band, Phil, stood up and said some kind words about Mr. Russell on behalf of himself and the music classes. As well, another senior band member, Sarah, told Mr. Russell that we would purchasing him a pair of tickets to whichever orchestra he would like to see. After that, Irene Perella, our principal came up to the microphone to commend Mr. Russell for his fantastic work at Somers. The crowd went crazy. Everybody stood up for Mr. Russell and applauded him, even my two younger brothers, who don't and will not, ever have Mr. Russell like I did. Mr. Russell received a standing ovation that lasted at least a minute and a half. I could tell that he was very moved by this treatment.

And Now?

I realized tonight just how much of an impact Mr. Russell has made on the lives of some of us students. Whether it's giving band lessons, teaching music theory, throwing music stands (laughs), making dinosaur noises and telling lame jokes, Mr. Russell has an impact on everyone he teaches, and even those he doesn't teach, but knows through musical activities. I also realized how privileged I was to be able to have Mr. Russell for two years in high school, a privilege my brothers, and other students, won't be able to have. I talked with Mr. Russell today and told him that I wasn't sure I wanted a career in music and that I wanted a career as a sports writer/journalist. Expecting him to be a little puzzled he told me "You should do what makes you happy, but you should always have music with you as something to hold onto. Music is something you carry with you your whole life. You should do what makes you happy, and luckily I've been able to be a music teacher, which is what I always wanted to be. This is what makes me happy."

Throughout my three years knowing him, and two with him as my teacher, Mr. Russell was a teacher I could talk to when I had trouble with my work, without feeling scared to ask for help. He was an inspiration to my musical study. To me Mr. Russell was my friend, and I'm going to miss him a lot next year, but I'll always remember the good times we had in class and the good times we had when we talked and how much of an inspiration and mentor Mr. Russell has been to me. It's going to be a lot different with a new music teacher next year. It's truly the end of an era in Somers High School music, and we know just how much we'll miss Mr. Russell next year. It's not just sports athletes that leave an impact when they retire, but teachers as well. I wish Mr. Russell the best for his future and congratulations on his retirement, and yes I'm going to miss him a lot, but who knows, maybe we'll meet again someday on the west coast.

Thanks Mr. Russell.

Let's edit that first paragraph shall we?

It's not until they finally leave the classroom and school do we realize that we've witnessed the end of a remarkable era and a man's gift of passing knowledge.