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After nearly 20 years as the director of bands for the Kirkwood School District in St.
Louis, Rebecca Friesen is poised to retire.
"Music education is not just learning how to play an instrument," she tells the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch.
"The skills learned through collaborating with each other, being part of something bigger than yourself, understanding that it makes a big difference when you're not therethat makes a huge impression on their growth and maturity."
Friesen began her career in the Washington School District before joining the Fort Zumwalt School District, where she worked as an adjunct faculty member before being hired as North Kirkwood Middle School's head band director in 2005, per the Post-Dispatch.
She took over as the district's director of bands in 2018.
In between performances, she teaches the beginning clarinet classher specialtyand instructs middle and high school band students.
She also teaches special groups like the Woodwind Chamber Ensemble, and accompanies students on school trips.
"Music education is not just learning how to play an instrument," she says.
"The skills learned through collaborating with each other, being part of something bigger than yourself, understanding that it makes a big difference when you're not therethat makes a huge impression on their growth and
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