By JULIA CHURCH KOZICKI
Guest Columnist
In celebration of the Noblesville Schools’ 150th anniversary, I was asked to reflect on some of my favorite memories as a student, parent and board member.
For me, many of those memories revolve around our outstanding performing arts department. As a student, I was proud to be a Marching Miller in the mid-80s, when we were regularly in the top 5 at State Fair Band Day. I remember the celebration when the NHS Singers won the Bishop Luers Show Choir Competition in 1984, and we had an all-school convocation to celebrate, just as we did for the girls’ basketball team winning state in 1987. Our drama department pushed the boundaries with Chicago in 1984 and sketches from Saturday Night Live in 1986.
As a parent, I’ve been privileged to watch our outstanding band, orchestra and theater programs grow and shine even more. The orchestra program, led by the amazing David Hartman, has over 300 students in the high school and hundreds more in our middle schools, is competing at the highest level and producing amazing music.
Our band program includes jazz band, led by two-time Lilly grant recipient Bethany Robinson, with multiple bands performing amazing music; concert band, with hundreds of students daily; and our Marching Millers, under the direction of the highly creative Eric Thornbury, who won back-to-back State Fair Band Day titles in 2017 and 2018 and are now excelling in the field show competition, going to semi-state in their first year of field show competition.
Although my kids didn’t sing, we did enjoy watching their friends in choir, where the talented John Neubauer leads multiple show choirs to regular top 5 finishes.
Finally, our theatre program, led by the wonderful Susan Nieten, won the state Thespian competition last winter, and is currently preparing the musical Beauty and the Beast. Performances are Nov. 14 to 16 (including a Saturday matinee) and tickets can be ordered online at nhscpo.org.
As a former board member, I’m incredibly proud of the outstanding staff that are leading our student K-12 in performing arts opportunities. I’m also proud of the resources devoted to our programs, whether in purchasing instruments to be used by students or in improving facilities for our expanding programs. Creating opportunities for all students to achieve was a key focus of the board during my tenure, and I am so proud of the many ways we accomplished that goal.
Julia Church Kozicki is a 1987 NHS graduate and served on the Noblesville Schools Board of School Trustees from 2006 to 2018. Her son JD graduated from NHS in 2017 and played viola in the NHS orchestra. Her son Josh graduated from NHS in 2019 and played trumpet and baritone in the NHS Marching Millers and Wind Ensemble and was a member of Thespian Troupe 8118.