Students, Parents Implored Dist. 197 School Board to Keep Sibley Choir Director

Henry Sibley choir students, District 197 parents, and adults from the Gar Lockrem Community Choir spoke up Monday before the at Mendota Heights City Hall in support of keeping at the high school next year.

Among those positions being affected by staff cuts throughout the district, Kapaun has been identified for a reduction in hours and a move to the elementary schools. Another music teacher in the district is planned to take his place.

The board ultimately approved all proposed preliminary staffing reductions and changes.

The district is constrained in many ways by contract requirements for senior teachers and limits on reductions to support staff. The district’s human resources director said Monday that to keep Kapaun at the high school would cost roughly $25,000.

Those in the crowd, however, communicated that his impact on students at the high school is priceless.

Here are excerpts from Monday’s public comments:

… Involvement in music in schools is directly correlated to increased academic performance in standardized tests, attention during school and dropout rates. … If the school board goes ahead with this decision regarding Aaron Kapaun, that will cripple the choir program at Sibley, and if I’m not mistaken the choir program at Sibley is the school’s biggest program, bigger than the football program. Take than many students out of the music program and what it will likely do is cripple the school’s test scores and academic performance.

Adiv Paradise, Sibley alumnus

He took a big school and made it a small school. In choir I could tell you every one of the kids in that classes’ names—I couldn’t do that for the kid sitting next to me in math class. It’s because of Mr. Kapaun. …  He’s the reason I’m able to stand up here and talk to you guys. So I want all the future kids to be able to learn from him, and I want to have him as a teacher for a few more years, so I really think we need him in our district.

Talia Milavetz, freshman choir student

In the process of applying for grad schools, (my son) asked me to take a look at his grad school application.  So after college, and sports and all the stuff he did, after all these years, what do you think he wrote about in his grad school application? … He wrote about an experience in his choir class. Dave went with his group to New York and one of the things that the choir did, and its particularly poignant today, they went to Ground Zero with Mr. Kapaun and they put on an impromptu concert for the workers and the crew that was working at Ground Zero. … the effect on the kids that sang and the people that were present that day was very profound.

Alan Milavetz, choir parent

We’re like a family. Sometimes we fight, sometimes we don’t get a long, sometimes we just want to leave and not be with each other but at the end of the day we’re a family. … We’ve all just become so close over the past few years and that’s all because of what Mr. Kapaun does for us.

Alex, senior choir student

He is one of the people that has really stood by my children throughout really, really hard times. And the choir program is so important because the kids join choir sometimes not just because they like music or they like choir, but because they want to be with someone who cares about them and they know that. We can’t allow someone that important to leave the school. You’ve got a diamond, and you can’t … and I know how hard it is, and I wish the referendum had passed, and I wish we had money, but this person is so important. Please, please keep him in the district.

Orit Roache, choir parent

From my experience in the business community—you start messing around with someone of this quality, you run the risk of losing them. People don’t quit jobs because of money; people quit jobs because they’re not happy. They don’t feel the opportunity, they don’t feel they’re respected and appreciated. And if we don’t treat Mr. Kapaun as though he is respected and appreciated, and valued, we’re going to lose him.

John Van Bogart

As for the choir program, he’s literally built it up from scratch. We now have five choirs, one afterschool jazz choir, and we have a whole men’s choir all to ourselves. When I started there were 11 men in the whole program. … He’s so much of this program, and I hope he can stay so I can watch the choir program thrive even more.

Michael Feinstein, senior choir student

The fact that (students) cried most of them, sobbed, complained when they heard this news, that just goes to show you how much they care about him and that care is reciprocated every single day. He is these kids’ best advocate at school, with their families; he cares about them immensely and it would be a shame to let him go. Yes, I’m sure he could handle elementary school kids, I’m sure he’ll be great wherever he goes, but he’s most needed and most loved at this school.  

Lindsey Garelick, alumna and instructional assistant