Sometimes, the smallest acts of encouragement can make the biggest impact on others.
Throughout his 25 years as a band director, Dr. Robby Glasscock served hundreds of students at Southside Middle School and Tallassee High School. Many of his students went on to pursue music in college, and several attribute their accomplishments to Glasscock’s encouragement.
PHOTOS: Glasscock conducts special eighth grade band for last time
Now, just before his retirement, he had the opportunity to close out his career with the middle school band, high school band and, to his surprise, an impromptu alumni band.
All that was left for Glasscock was directing a high school band spring concert, an eighth grade band performance and directing graduation. But his former students wanted to prod him for one last lesson. Several alumni traveled to Tallassee to join Glasscock for his finale — some even drove 10 hours to surprise him.
“There were some little hints that something was going on,” Glasscock said. “I was not expecting to have so many of the students return like that to play. They caught me off guard.”
It was full circle for Emily Dillard Scott who last played for Glasscock in 2007.
“He always told me that I wouldn't be able to do something and I always defied the odds,” Scott said. “He said I couldn't play the flute, so I played the flute. He said I couldn't play the piccolo, so I played the piccolo.”
Scott believes it was Glasscock’s way of motivating her. She realizes now it made her better in so many ways, not just musically.
“He was always pushing against me,” Scott said. “He knew that brought out the over achiever in me, so I was always first chair section leader, that kind of stuff because of him.”
Scott eventually played the piccolo at Huntingdon College.
Scott has children in the seventh and eighth grade bands. She was hoping they would play for Glasscock and bring along her knack for getting under his skin a little bit. Instead, she had to bring them to the special performance of “To A New Beginning.” Glasscock conducted the eighth grade band alongside some alumni, including Scott.
“I’m playing the piccolo tonight despite him,” Scott joked. “I hoped one of my children would do it. Instead I’m doing it.”
Others drove hours to be a part of the special performance. Andrew Webster is a lab technician living in Cleveland, Tennessee. He played the saxophone in college and continues to play in a jazz band. He made the drive to Tallassee to play in front of Glasscock one more time with his friends and classmates. Before coming back to his alma mater, the last time he played was before he graduated from Tallassee in 2015.
“I felt like it was something that I needed to do,” Webster said. “Band opened up a lot of different avenues for me. I continued to play in college and made a lot of lasting friendships there, and it's still continuing to benefit me, even now.”
The band opened the doors for Ashlyn Gilliland to become the person she is today. While she didn’t play in college, the high school band experience helped Gilliland mature into an adult.
“Honestly, at least for me, he was always that one teacher that always treated us like people,” Gilliland said. “He treated us not as equals, but as young adults.”
From gubernatorial inaugurals and the Talladega Super Speedway, to marching band contests, local parades and parades in Chicago, Philadelphia and San Antonio, Glasscock exposed his bands to the world.
The high school experience opened doors for 2012 graduate Stanley Lacey. He was the first Glasscock student to earn a full ride as he went on to play trombone at the University of Alabama. He drove 10 hours Thursday from Magnolia, Texas, bringing his wife and five children for the special performance.
It was Glasscock who pushed Lacey to be a better musician and person in his own way.
“My freshman year, I was trying out for all-state,” Lacey said. “I just wasn't getting my scales at all. I was trying to play them in the band room. He came up to me and said I was never going to get into all state at this rate because I wasn't practicing my scales like I should. It made me so mad that I practiced them every day after that. I made all state that year.”
Lacey believed Glasscock was best at supporting students who were willing to put in effort to better themselves.
“If I was doing it, he was there encouraging me and pushing me to do better,” Lacey said. “I made the all state blue band my freshman year and made red band each year after. A big part of that was him. I just appreciate what he did.”
Today, Lacey applies his experience in the band as a Lutheran pastor.
“I do get to use my trombone in the church,” Lacey said. “I will play it some in the music ministry.”
Many of the alumni wrote letters to Glasscock Thursday and left them with him in a bag as they gathered to surprise Glasscock Thursday night. Most had rehearsed the piece themselves but had never played it as a group, much less with the eighth grade band.
No one will remember the quality of the performance, even though it was good. They will remember Glasscock for making them better people.
By Friday, Glasscock had read most of the letters about what Glasscock and the high school band experience meant. He noticed something about them.
“None of them mentioned I was mad at them because they were out of position at practice or during a performance,” Glasscock said. “We were in the trenches trying to learn half time shows. They just remembered the happy memories. It was the same thing for me. They told me they were better people because of me and the band.”