Band teacher Davis leaves Aragon for West Valley College

Having acquired a full-time position as the Director of Band and Jazz at West Valley College, band teacher Troy Davis resigned from his job at Aragon and will not be returning in the fall.

“I was interested in a new opportunity and I was interested in being able to do more on a broader scale,” Davis said. “I will have the opportunity now to work much more closely with many other youth music educators in the Bay Area. There’s some flexibility in the schedule so I can get into other classrooms where I can share ideas, where I can give feedback, and also even bring students to the school from the high school or local middle schools — where we can collaborate in ways that I can’t really do right now.”

Davis received notice of his job offer on May 31 and officially announced his resignation via email on June 1, the morning after graduation. To give him a proper farewell, orchestra and choir director John Chen and music booster presidents Natalia Estassi and Kristina Fayyad organized a good-bye party for Davis on June 8.

“A lot of it is geared towards the band kids being able to bid farewell,” Chen said. “[The band kids] have photo memory albums prepared, and it looks like there’s a very good reception ready [at the party], so it’s a chance for the kids to say hello and goodbye.”

“At first, I was really sad,” said junior Anastasia Yang, a flute player for the Wind Ensemble, “but I think it’s more important for us to be happy for him, because it [would be] unfair and selfish of us to keep him here when he has such a wonderful opportunity somewhere else.”

Davis taught at Aragon for 13 years, directing the band and jazz ensembles in addition to teaching AP Music Theory biennially. He took over these programs in 2005, when former band instructor Michael Galisatus left Aragon to teach at the College of San Mateo and referred Davis to the position.

“Mr. Davis was a former student of mine at El Camino High School,” Galisatus said. “When he was a high school student, I could see that he had a lot of leadership abilities — he was very well organized, and he had all the right tools to be a great music educator. As time went by and he went to college and got his degree … he started to get a lot of teaching experience under his belt, so when I left Aragon I thought he would be the perfect replacement.”
Many of those who have worked with Davis characterize him as passionate, friendly and upbeat.

“We meet with Mr. Davis and Mr. Chen at least four times a year as part of the Music Booster Board, and he helps us in activities that promote the music programs on the Aragon campus,” said Aragon parent Debbie Wong. “He’s energized, full of ideas and is dedicated to the success of his students … Whenever I run across him at different music events, such as concerts, he would always stop to give me a huge smile and thank me for my work.”

“He really cares about students, and he pays a lot of attention to how he teaches us,” Yang said. “His style of teaching is different because he prioritizes character [and] integrity above anything else.

“He makes it a requirement for all band students to do at least 5 hours of music community service per semester … He always tells us that we have to represent the Aragon community, and he wants us all to grow into kind people who are open to helping others … I think he’s just a really genuine and sweet person.”

Davis’s passion for music shows through outside of Aragon as well. In addition to playing for the Livermore Opera Orchestra as the principal oboist, Davis also conducts for the Oakland Municipal Band, mentors young teachers, judges at music festivals, and plays various woodwind instruments for broadway-style music shows. In his career, Davis had performed at upwards of 50 musicals.

Looking back, Davis shares some of his favorite recollections of Aragon.

“There’s two real things that stick out,” Davis said. “One is the daily interaction with the students and staffulty at Aragon … it’s a great experience not only to be at Aragon, but to work with students who are really passionate and care about music-making.

“But then I would say the other thing that really stands out are some of our big international tours that we’ve done — we have gone to many places in California, Boston, Vancouver, China, Italy, Oregon, Ireland … where we’ve not only had the opportunity to give our students to see the world from a different perspective, but to share our music with a global audience.”

Over the summer, the administration will be reviewing applications for prospective band teachers that can replace Davis’s position. The status of AP Music Theory is currently tentative, but it will be considered in the hiring process of new applicants, according to assistant principal Ron Bergerren.

The upcoming fall will certainly mark a period of transition, but Davis reassures the Aragon community that the music program will pull through.

“I feel that the administration is savvy enough to get someone who’s going to last a long time and continue just building where I left off as opposed to the opposite concern [that] the podium is going to fall apart” Davis said. “The students are the program … the students are the one who are going to continue our traditions … They don’t need me specifically to do that. There will be someone at the helm and I feel really confident that that person will be great.”