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Band Leader Marches Into Brandon

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 12, 2008

BRANDON - Melanie Driscoll has only been in town since the end of June, and she won't make the payroll at Brandon High School until teachers officially report to work in August.

She doesn't even have password access to the school computer.

But last week, thousands of spectators at Brandon's 50th annual Fourth of July parade watched her lead a group of Brandon High band members entertaining the crowds as they marched through the heart of Brandon.
Driscoll most certainly has arrived.

"I got the keys to my office the last week of June," she said, "And I've been working several hours a day."

Brandon High School's new band director has met with the band booster board. Her plans for band camp Aug. 4-7 are written in ink. And she's making detailed preparations for the fall marching schedule.

"I'm really excited about it," she said. "People have been so supportive and so great, and the students are so excited."

A recent graduate of the University of Florida, Driscoll thought she was headed to Davenport in Polk County.

"But the Davenport job was cut before I even started," she said. Then she interviewed with Ted Hope, supervisor of middle and secondary school music for Hillsborough public schools, and Brandon High Principal Leslie Granich.

"They were really great. I really think it was meant to be that I come here," she said.

Driscoll's job includes directing the marching, concert and jazz bands. "I've already had a lot of help from the orchestra director and the choir director," she said. "
Driscoll brings energy and vision to the task.

"I knew I wanted to put everything into teaching once I started," she said. "I'm really excited about camp. We have a volunteer staff from all over Florida this year, in addition to the three instructors. The students will have more time at camp than they're used to - but also more fun.

"Learning really can be fun," she said. "I've had great experiences in band, and we always worked really hard - so that's what I'm working on with this group."

Driscoll's principal instrument is flute, which she has been playing since fifth grade. Later, she learned tenor saxophone and played in the jazz band at Vero Beach High School.

She started recognizing her interest in teaching when she would instruct her younger brother and sister, "even if they weren't interested," she said. "As I got older, I realized that teaching was what I really wanted. I was a drum major and always on the leadership team."
Driscoll continued to develop leadership skills at the University of Florida, where she was a drum major and worked two years on the band staff as a graduate assistant.

"I worked in the band and music education department for my assistantship," she said. "I did my masters project on Band directors' first year teaching challenges. But you can't prepare for everything."

Today, she is ready to put her education to practical use. "I believe in a well-rounded education," she said. "We're going to be doing classic concert band literature, history, everything."

She has big plans for the marching band's show.

"We're going to be performing music from 'Wicked.' Then, something different. I'm having a drill-writing specialist write the drill."

The leader of the band is eager to connect with her new community.

"Come out and see us Friday nights," she said. "And I'd love the community to come out to our concerts. We're going to work on getting the word out."
Driscoll likes what she sees in the Brandon community so far and hopes she's here to stay. "I'm a homebody. I lived in Vero Beach my whole life, then Gainesville six years. I want to be somewhere I can stay a long time."

MEET MELANIE DRISCOLL
OCCUPATION: Band director, Brandon High School
BORN: Vero Beach, 1984

EDUCATION: Vero Beach High School, 2002; University of Florida, bachelor's, 2006, masters, 2008

MEMBER: Sigma Alpha Iota music sorority

MOVED TO BRANDON: June, 2008

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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