ELKVIEW, W.Va. — A Kanawha County high school band director, impacted by last summer’s flooding, has been named the WV Bandmaster of the Year.
Meleah Fisher, band director at Herbert Hoover High School, received the award Sunday during Hoover’s spring band concert.
The school was destroyed in the June 2016 flood. Since then, students and staff have been sharing space at Elkview Middle School. The band had to rehearse on Elkview’s parking lot last season.
“It was a hard decision to put the band on the field, to pull it together because I felt like I was being insensitive to the community,” Fisher told MetroNews. “I just took one step at a time and we put it together.”
Kanawha County Schools tweeted a photo of Fisher accepting the award from Bobby Jenks, educator at Jackson County Schools and member of the Phi Beta Mu National Bandmaster’s Fraternity.
Fisher said she was surprised to receive the honor.
“Even my band kids knew and they kept it quiet,” she said.
Fisher, who has taught at Hoover for years, dealt with several issues after last June’s flood. All the band equipment including uniforms and instruments were ruined by flood waters. The equipment had to be replaced last season. Donations came from schools across the country.
Several band students are still recovering from losing their homes. Fisher said the award means a lot, especially after helping her students get back to a sense of normalcy.
“They say ‘I’m so glad I had band because I would’ve went crazy trying to figure this out’,” she said. “It made me feel better for starting up the program.”
The band will have to practice on a nearby parking lot this season. This week, Fisher is holding marching band clinics before auditions begin at a later date.
Portable classroom buildings are being installed on the Elkview Middle parking lot where Hoover will be housed, but Kanawha County school facility officials predict the units won’t be open until the fall.
It’s been a crazy ride so far this year, Fisher said.
“Life continues. It’s a little frustrating,” Fisher said. “If we can get in the portables, I’ll be a little bit more settled down. It’s just taking a little bit longer.”
Fisher said the band will continue to use borrowed uniforms and equipment this fall until they receive new items.