After seven years of silence, the roll of drums, buzz of brass and wind of reeds will sound back to life as the Hawthorne Hornet Band returns to school halls and sporting events in August.  

Hawthorne Middle/High School (HMHS) has been the only local high school without a band program since the former director left in 2018, but new staff will revive the program in August as the school year opens. 

“Band is a way to expose kids and open their minds to different learning,” said HMHS principal John Green. “We’re excited to have it back.”  

Now, Hawthorne students will have music options from elementary school all the way through graduation. 

Kristi Neal will lead the daily band program for sixth through 12th grade students at HMHS, and Shell Elementary School (SES) music teacher Stefie Pishock will serve as band director to fourth and fifth graders, helping feed musicians into the HMHS program. 

In June, 35 to 40 HMHS students had already requested the new class. 

Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) curriculum specialist and former district music teacher, Diane Rollo, said the success of any program is the person who’s in the front of the room. 

She said interest in band faded at Hawthorne as the school couldn’t find a replacement teacher. 

“It’s been a difficult journey to get that back out there, and it’s been something that I’ve been trying to get going for a number of years,” Rollo said. “Now, with [interim superintendent] Dr. [Kamela] Patton in place, she’s a fierce supporter of the arts. Being able to get her on board was a real positive thing for that community in those schools.” 

But convincing the district to resurrect the band program at HMHS and keep music classes at Shell Elementary took an extra push from the community.  

During public comment at the April 15 School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) meeting, Pishock said through tears that she and her specials team, including art and physical education, were told they could either reduce their positions at Shell to half-time or go somewhere else for full-time jobs. 

Pishock posted on Facebook after the SBAC meeting that while she and the other teachers were willing to move in order to keep full-time salaries, they wanted to stay at Shell to serve the community and its students. 

She also used the post to call on the school board to invest in the subjects that are supposed to be made possible by the district’s additional One Mill tax and to consider introducing them at HMHS as well. 

“If you care to keep quality music, art, PE and media in our schools, please make your voices be heard to the school board and superintendent,” Pishock posted. “Please fight for us to keep these subjects in our school and maybe even expand art and music to the middle/high.” 

A few weeks later, Pishock posted on Facebook that the Hawthorne community’s voices had been heard. 

Not only would all specials teachers at Shell and Lake Forest Elementary be full-time for the 2025-26 school year, but there would also be a band program at HMHS and one at Shell to help grow it.  

Pishock said Patton was appalled to find out that there was no music program at Hawthorne and worked tirelessly with Rollo to find a solution. 

“As a musician myself, it’s very important to me at the district level that we’re giving all of our kids access to a quality music education,” Rollo said. “We’re finally going to be able to do that and I’m so, so grateful.” 

Incoming Hawthorne band students attended an instrument fitting at Shell Elementary in May, where they played and learned about each instrument to help decide which one they’ll choose for the new year. 

Rollo said Pishock and Neal have been working together for the past few months to fix up the band room and inventory equipment, music and instruments that either need to be repaired or ordered. 

She said the cost of cleaning and purchasing instruments is what makes band programs so expensive. 

Rollo said she only had cost estimates for the Hawthorne Hornet Band restart and couldn’t give firm numbers. She assumed most of the money would come from one mil funding.  

Rollo said investing in the arts is not only for the students but the entire community.  

“Music is creativity, it’s collaboration, it’s teamwork, it’s work ethic that’s being instilled in the kids,” she said. “There’s a sense of pride that comes with what they do in a band classroom. And that exposure out in the community is so important. It’s such a big part of the school community and the community at large as well.” 

Rollo said she and the band teachers’ first goal for the new program is getting students ready to play in the stands and cheer on the football team for one of the last games of the season.  

Not only would it give the kids something to work towards, she said, it would generate more excitement in the Hawthorne community that’s been missing the visible force of unifying music in its athletic culture. 

Rollo said getting the students to that point will be a building process requiring a systematic approach. Students will first need to learn the basics of reading music, memorize fingerings for notes and produce symphonic sounds before they can march on the field or enter competitions.  

But as Pishock said on Facebook, the Hawthorne staff is ready to rise to the challenge for this year and years to come.  

“OUR VOICES WERE HEARD. Now it’s up to you to SUPPORT these new programs!!!!” she said. “It’s going to be a lot of work, but 1000% worth it. We’ve already got sports down… Now let’s make Hawthorne the city of MUSICAL champions!!!”