Brandon Duras

If any one teacher should get this nomination, it should be my band teacher Mr. Duras. He is fairly new to our school, this year will be his second. He probably does not know this given the fact that the teacher who was preceded him was such a big influence, but he is one of my favorite teachers for his humor, comments on assignments, help, personality, musicality, and great encouragement in these hard times. Last year was a really hard struggle for me because I was not getting along well with another older student in my band section. A lot of times, I would go to Mr. Duras's office to talk to him about what was going on and various other things. When I would go to him, he always gave me a clear answer to what I was asking about. He never once got mad at me for doing what I did, but I could tell that he was definitely disappointed in me for what happened and wished that I had done better. Come the beginning of the school year 2020, Mr. Duras has been met with great lengths of challenges. How to teach band both in person and virtual during a global pandemic. He has worked tirelessly so that the band can actually be able to play in person. For about three months, we were able to play in person when it was our in-person day. Since it has gotten colder, we have not been able to play because we are not allowed to play in-doors. He has never once shown us students his negative emotions at the extreme. If something does bother him, he addresses the situation in a very orderly fashion. He has never yelled at us, or made us feel that we were worthless. In all of his google classroom posts, he is always polite. If something goes amiss, he is always quick to apologize, even if he didn't cause the problem. I really hope that you will consider him for this nomination. He does not know that I did this for him.

Joyelle Webster