Elza Wright marches with the band at Brookfield’s Memorial Day observance.
Elza Wright set out to make a difference in the lives of his students. As former students came to greet him at the Brookfield High School band banquet on May 21 and wish him well on his retirement, he learned that he had.
“That’s very satisfying and rewarding,” he said.
Wright lowered the baton on 26 years of teaching, 19 of them at Brookfield, drawing the final note on what has been his second career. A “band kid” in school, he always wanted to teach music, but he “didn’t have the grades,” he said.
Instead, he became a meat cutter.
“I did that for 20 years,” Wright said. “Decided to go back to school, put myself through school. I worked full time, went to school full time, got my music degree.”
He started teaching in Youngstown City schools – he lives in Youngstown – but looked for a new job that landed him in Brookfield after Youngstown announced it was reducing staff.
Elza Wright stands with his seniors and supporters at the May 21 band banquet. Shown with him are , in front, from left, senior Caroline McLain and assistant band director Allyson Reed and, rear from left; senior Mackenzie Peters, senior Angelena Purbaugh and band boosters president Angelica Wiseman.
There’s more to music than playing the notes on the page or in your head, and Wright approaches teaching in that fashion.
“I let them know my job isn’t to make them want to be band directors or musicians,” he said. “I teach them about life through music. It teaches them discipline. It teaches them teamwork. Of course, there’s an aesthetic component, too.”
Because of the discipline required, Wright recommends that his students keep playing music even if they are going into other fields.
“I always try to encourage them to get into their college bands, if they go to college, because you don’t have to be a music major – they’ll take anybody,” he said.
As a teacher, he looked for the best way to reach a student as an individual.
“There’s probably three or four different ways to teach the same concept and you have to figure out how that kid learns and try to reach them from that angle,” Wright said. “Most times it works.”
Music always “made sense” to him and he loved being in the band as a student, but his band director, Dr. John Colantonio, “saw something a little deeper and encouraged that. I try to do that with each of my students.”
Elza Wright greets former students and well wishers at the Brookfield band banquet on March 21.
Brookfield Band Booster President Angelica Wiseman called Wright “an amazing person.”
“He’s very kind and just always in a good mood,” she said. “All the kids love him. They love messing with him. They all pick on him and he picks on them back. It’s gonna be sad without him.”
Two of Wiseman’s children, Whysper and Wynter, have been in the band and consider Wright “one of their best teachers. He’s always been like their favorite teacher. My daughter Wysper didn’t even want to join the band to begin with. We gave her a pep talk at the beginning of the year and she ended up loving it. I think it’s also because of the way he teaches, too.”
The boosters, with the help of Marlaina Marek, presented Wright with a book of photos of his time at Brookfield.
As for his future plans, Wright is undecided.
“I told my wife that for the first two months the heaviest thing I’m gonna lift is a golf club,” he said.
Wright has some household projects he wants to do and travel plans, and his son his getting married this summer. As for music, he could wind up in a community band or orchestra. Trombone is his main instrument but he also plays other brass instruments, clarinet and keyboard.
“I know I want to set up a little recording space in my basement and do some personal things,” Wright said. “I intend on keeping playing.”
Wright leaves the band in the hands of Kaela Lawson, who was hired by the school board on May 20. High school Principal Megan Marino noted that six students were involved in the interview process that led to Lawson’s hiring.
“She’ll do well,” Wright said of Lawson. “She’s been in a couple of times. The kids really like her. I think that’s encouraged them a little bit, too, because some of them were a little iffy about staying in band or not, with getting a new director, but I think that’s kind of alleviated some of their fears.”
Wiseman also endorsed Lawson’s hiring. “She seems ready. She’s 22, so she’s fresh and she’s ready to get out there.”
