By AMELIA HEAGERTY

Staff Writer

The energy and enthusiasm of the 76-piece Vashon High School symphonic band was palpable during a recent class. The students were practicing “The Symphony of Souls” by Robert Smith, an innovative piece that pushes the musicians beyond typical ensemble playing. A percussionist dragged a bow across a music stand; the entire band sang together; they even whispered jibberish.

“I love that song — it’s really intense,” said senior percussionist Emily Graham, who will attend Whitman College next year to pursue a music education degree. She developed her love of music, she said, in the jazz band, pep band and symphonic band at Vashon High School — and all under the tutelage of Mike Scott.

“Mr. Scott’s basically my favorite teacher, and he has been since I started band,” she said.

Graham is only one of countless students inspired by Scott, who is the driving force behind a music program that administrators, fellow teachers and parents agree has blossomed in his eight years at its helm.

But this is his last trimester leading the VHS and McMurray bands — Scott has accepted a teaching position in Martinsville, Ind., to be closer to his two brothers and extended family in Indiana.

Graham said she and many other of Scott’s students cried when they heard the news.

Martinsville High School has 1,700 students, and Scott said he’s excited to have the opportunity to teach a percussion ensemble, jazz band and music appreciation class there, as well as symphonic band. The community he’ll be teaching in has a similar rural feel to Vashon, he said.

But Islanders are devastated to see the lynchpin of their successful music program go. Under Scott’s direction, the high school band has traveled to San Francisco, Whistler, Portland, and this year to Coeur d’ Alene, to compete in music festivals. Each year the band has received the highest mark from judges — superior.

“We have a very, very professional and very artistic program under Mike,” said Vashon High School Principal Susan Hanson. “Not only are his musicians technically proficient, they understand how to perform music. They are performing with passion, with elegance.”

She said Scott chooses a variety of music for the band to perform, from “sophisticated concert pieces” to marches.

She said she likes to observe Scott working with his ensemble in the classroom.

“He tells them what they are doing well, and then he tells them a correction that will help them make it even better,” Hanson said.

For example, he might praise the flutes in measure 49 but remind the trumpets to be more staccato in measure 52.

“Band is fantastic — it’s just a real way for kids to become connected to school, and it provides them a way to express their artistic abilities,” said McMurray Middle School Principal Greg Allison. “I think kids are very responsive to (Scott), he has a very positive type of approach but yet demanding, and he really works to encourage students to reach their fullest potential. He’ll definitely be missed.”

Hanson said she has seen the high school band grow in the last eight years, and that more students stay enrolled today in the class until they graduate.

Scott agreed that the band has grown since he moved to Vashon from San Jose, Calif., in 2000.

“They played just as well, but the biggest difference is the size of the band and the fun that they’re having,” he said. “The largest change has been the overall enthusiasm of the students.”

Scott says his teaching method is to keep the pace of his classes moving quickly so his students never stop paying attention. He also said he rewards his students when they perform well.

“I use positive reinforcement as my most successful tool for teaching,” he said. “It is very important to me that students understand what they are getting right as well as what they can improve.”

Scott’s passion for music has been lifelong, but he initially thought he would be on stage performing rather than conducting. It was while he was a music education student in Indiana that he realized he enjoyed teaching more than training, and he became motivated to teach others to learn music.

“I believe music education is a necessity, not a luxury,” he said.

He said he doesn’t want students to give up hope in the music program just because he is leaving Vashon.

“My biggest worry for our band program is that students will walk away knowing that I will not be returning next year,” he said.

He said he hoped band students and parents would take ownership of the music program and maintain their commitment to it.

“The quality sound that we’ve enjoyed as a community is a direct result of the hard work and dedication that the students of Vashon have given,” Scott said. “The band students need to embrace the idea that ‘We are the band.’ I feel very fortunate to have been a conductor, mentor, teacher and friend for the students of Vashon. Next year it will be in their hands. Come on Vashon, keep the music alive.”

A versatile instructor, Scott is also teaching an outdoor survival course at McMurray this year, covering first aid, edible plants, construction of a survival shelter and fire building.

Those who have been involved in the band program in the last eight years, although sad to see Scott go, said they recognize that he is making the best decision for his family.

“I’m bummed that he’s leaving when I’m still in my sophomore year,” said Eli Hoyt, a tuba player in the symphonic band and pep band. “I’ll have to go on without him. He’s made band interesting by picking pieces that are always engaging and are always a challenge. He’s always got something that we’d like to do.”

He described last year’s Pops concert, casual end-of-year performances where students get to dress down, play trivia, play music that attendees probably already know and eat ice cream. The band played “Music for a Darkened Theater,” which featured the theme music from “Edward Scissorhands.”

Father Jeff Hoyt said band students respond well to Scott’s easygoing teaching style.

“I’ve watched him in action, and he really has a manner over his kids that the kids just settle into,” he said. “I think it’s a really great music program, and Mike has been an inspiration to these kids.”

Jeff Hoyt said he understood just how much affection the band students had for their music teacher when Scott took fall semester 2005 off to hike the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail with his wife Amy Clewell, a naturopath on the Island.

“You could tell when he was gone how much they missed him and needed him,” he said.

Scott’s students were “obsessed” with any information on his progress, and any time a photograph arrived, they all gathered around it, Jeff Hoyt said.

“We were all crushed when we heard. He’ll be missed horribly,” said Sarah Day, mother of freshman trombone player Aidan Morrison. “Our whole family adores the band program — and Mike Scott, we adore him as well. We’ve been extremely pleased to have that level of quality for the kids.”

Carolyn Candy, who introduces Chautauqua Elementary School students to the joy of music, said students return to her classroom and tell her what it’s like to be in one of Scott’s classes.

“I’m always glad when the fifth-graders graduate to know they’re going to be in good hands,” she said. “They come back to me and say, ‘Band is really cool. I’m happy that I get to play an instrument. Mr. Scott is awesome.’”