Teacher feature
Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories that introduce new teachers and staff at Tracy Area Public Schools.
Eli Cole has had plenty of memorable musical experiences in his young life.
From marching in a Macy’s Day Parade, to playing at two straight NCAA football championships, the 2020 Marshall High School graduate has seen a lot. And now, he’s taking on a new challenge as the band director at Tracy Area High School.
“It was crazy — we got done with Macy’s, and as soon as we got back it was more practice; we went all the way to December and a little bit into January,” he recalls. “Our normal season would end around the beginning of November. It was a good thing; it kept us busy for sure.” With those memorable experiences behind him, Cole is now focused on teaching the younger generation.
“So far, the kids have been very, very accepting of my ideas,” Cole said. “I know how I run a classroom or a band may be a little bit different than teachers they may have had. But the kids have been very welcoming and open to my ideas and the expectations I have of them.”
In high school, Cole was a member of the marching band, jazz band, concert band and was part of the BEATS percussion ensemble. He also helped direct BEATS for the past two years. After high school, he attended Minnesota State, Moorhead for a year before transferring to South Dakota State University where he earned his degree in Music Education.
While music is his passion, Cole actually grew up as part of a farm family. He may not be engrained into the farming life, but he did pay his dues when he was younger.
“It wasn’t exactly my calling, but I worked plenty of hours out on the farm and in the barns,” he said.
Cole’s love of music can be traced as far back as the first grade, although he wasn’t sure what his focus would eventually be.
“I definitely knew I wanted to be a teacher early on,” he said. “but didn’t decide on that until my senior year of high school after I went through more of a program with music.”
Cole’s background is in percussion, and he’s also adept on the piano. He started getting familiar with other instruments in college.
“Wind instruments are fairly new,” he said. “Percussion is kind of my go-to. That’s kind of where my love begins with music.”
He said as a teacher, he doesn’t have to necessarily master every instrument, but instead be able to work his way around one, enough to be able to teach someone how to play.
“A lot of it is teaching ourselves how we would teach a younger student,” he said.
Cole, who for a time was a substitute band and music teacher in Marshall for fifththrough 12-graders, just finished up a seven-year stint at Music Street in Marshall where he repaired and sold instruments.
He said he enjoyed the hands-on aspect that Music Street offered him.
“I like working with my hands, and that was the perfect combination of the two,” he said. “I think being in that atmosphere definitely opened my eyes to the band world specifically.”
As far as his teaching philosophy, Cole credits his former high school instructor Wayne Ivers and keeps a quote in mind: “Practice makes progress, it doesn’t make it perfect,” he said, “because I don’t think anything is perfect, especially in a music setting. There’s always something you can improve on or try to make better. You should always be striving to improve.”
Unlike math or science teachers, Cole hasn’t had much time to settle in, as he has been working for weeks with the marching band in preparation for the Box Car Days Grand Parade. Because of that tight window, and the fact that he is a new teacher, he put a lot of internal pressure on himself.
“It’s definitely been overwhelming,” he said. “I didn’t know if I have to get marching band stuff in place before my school stuff. It’s just prioritizing what I need to get done first. After starting our band practices, it definitely levels out and I’ve been able to manage that.”
