Vocal Jazz made Roosevelt proud at the Jazz Education Network’s 14th Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., where our 19 students participated in an event billed as part music festival, part networking, part education, and all inspiration! Helping to ensure student success during the Jan. 4-7 conference was a nimble team of Roosevelt parent volunteers and educators who deserve a hearty round of applause from us:
- VJ parent representative Tracy Hillstrom was the rock star behind the planning, budgeting, and most of the booking, with VJ parent rep Karl Hillstrom jumping in with some of the air travel and ground transportation logistics.
- VJ parent volunteer Nicole Ross found the outfit to rent an upright bass, with Karl taking care of the final mile in getting the account set up and the delivery in Orlando.
- VJ parent volunteer Kristen Glibertson was the point person for food, both receiving grocery deliveries, picking up pizzas delivered to a hard-to-describe location, and working with restaurants.
- Kristen and Karl and JB2/3 Director Michael Van Bebber (who stepped in to chaperone) all helped Vocal Jazz Director Aimee Mell keep an eye on 19 teens while traveling. And, of course, Mr. Van Bebber was the ear of a second jazz educator, as well as helping with some technical stuff for the rhythm section. Thank you, Tracy, Karl, Nicole, Kristen, Mr. Van Bebber and Ms. Mell, for your dedication to Roosevelt Jazz!