NHIS welcomed a new band teacher to the staff at the start of the 2024-2025 school year. His name is Tate Sakamoto, and this change has reset the band program.
Over the last two years, the NHIS band program has gone through several changes. The longtime band director, Randal Vause, retired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. NHIS was not able to find a permanent replacement for the position in the 2023-2024 school year. The position was once again opened in February 2024 for the new school year. Sakamoto applied and got the job.
“I am very excited about the new band teacher. I love that he is extremely knowledgeable about all band subjects,” said Blythe Ezell, the guitar/ukulele teacher at NHIS. “I do know that he is really working hard to teach them how to read music, how to play the correct way so that hopefully, by next football season, by next school year they should be ready to step into public performance roles.”
Sakamoto first taught at Waiakea Intermediate School on the Big Island, and most recently taught at Ewa Makai Middle School. He taught band, ukulele, and chorus classes at the various schools.
Sakamoto chose to be a music teacher because of the influence music had on his life. “I had such a great experience growing up in music. I think it really gave me a group to hang out with and a place where I felt like I belonged, and I want to provide that same feeling for other students.”
The current goal is to get the band to a point where they feel comfortable playing in public and being proud about it. “Right now, I think that they could perform in public. I’m not sure how proud they’d feel,” said Sakamoto. “I think it’s pretty good, but I think they have higher standards for themselves.”
“I think the most rewarding thing is seeing how happy the students get when they start playing their instruments. Just because they haven’t played in a while, or maybe the last time they played, it wasn’t super structured. So it’s nice being able to provide a band experience for them while they’re here.”
“I say he’s a really good teacher; he teaches us more than we learned before,” said Xaylah Kala, a current band student. “We finally get to play instruments.”
According to Sakamoto, some challenges came with becoming the NHIS band teacher.
“I think some of the challenges I faced was having to come in over the summer and figuring out which instruments worked and which ones didn’t. The room wasn’t in the best shape and it took me a long time to just get the room to a place where I felt comfortable letting students in.”
“Seeing the students grow and get out of their comfort zone, to me that’s why I’m so happy to be here because I want to provide that same opportunity,” said Sakamoto. “Just knowing that there wasn’t a band teacher here, makes me feel like I have a purpose.”
