By Ethan Bo (‘29) and Karlos Tse (‘27)
He’s been here for 25 years, he loves Krispy Kreme and he rocks the tenor sax, it’s none other than Mr. Elmer!
Mr. Elmer has been contributing to the West Point Grey Academy community for longer than most of us have been alive! With every day, morning practice and school trip, Mr. Elmer never ceases to show his kind and persistent character, demonstrating musical finesse while challenging young students to a higher level of musical talent. As these are our last few days with Mr. Elmer, we wanted to write a farewell article, paying tribute to how he has affected our community with a positive impact. We interviewed two students to see his impact across the school.
When we asked a student what they think makes Mr. Elmer, such an amazing band teacher, they responded with, “It’s hard to explain; he’s just awesome.” Mr. Elmer is just awesome! He teaches with patience, yet with a style that engages our diverse school community. Preston Lin (‘27) reflects this sentiment. When we asked him a similar question, he replied, “Mr. Elmer is an amazing band teacher because he not only teaches with humour and informality, which really gets to young people, he personalizes his lessons and caters to his students by recognizing them and making them feel acknowledged.” If you’ve been in class or in early morning rehearsals with Mr. Elmer, his fun character stands out in the room. He makes faces and kindly makes fun of us, not for humiliation, but for the laughter of all those in the room. He helps us with our ties (both attire-wise and musically) without grumbling or grudging and has helped more students in the school than he could ever imagine.
An important part to recollecting our time with Mr. Elmer is through the memories that we shared with him. One student reflected on their time with Mr. Elmer stating, “Everytime I give him a hug, he looks at me like I’m crazy but he still hugs me.” Mr. Elmer has always been kind but his ability to relate with students beyond surface level goes above and beyond the expectations of a teacher. He demonstrates countless times with countless people acts of kindness and selflessness spanning over these many years. Mr. Elmer’s personal connection stems beyond the classroom. Preston recalls a moment during the Cantando Music Festival earlier this year. Preston said, “I had a very fond memory of Mr. Elmer when we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Whistler. Although it is a new memory, it is one example of a very happy memory, and this memory was when we talked about my food habits, and how I didn’t like blueberries. It was very personal and made me happy… I’ve known Mr. Elmer for a very long time which was seven years since Grade 3 when I joined the music program, I never told him about these personal things about me eating and stuff, but it was very comforting because we were very informal and comfortable with each other. Not with something you expect with someone who might not even know what you like to eat.” While displaying professionalism, Mr. Elmer never gives up his joyful and comforting character. He serves his community one student at a time and the effects cannot be described by words. Instead of playing the teacher, Mr. Elmer’s character carries him to friendship among his students and the school community.
One final question we asked our interviewees was, “What traditions or values do you think will live on because of him?” The specific answers varied, however the heart of the messages stayed the same; Mr. Elmer is caring and we will miss him in these years. Preston began saying, “Mr. Elmer taught me to be resilient and keep my head up because not only does he share important valuable life lessons through stories and his teaching and how he communicates to us, but he emphasizes their importance through actually talking to us.” Another student shared the same sentiment stating, “He taught me to always be kind and to give people a second chance.” Even though Mr. Elmer himself may be leaving the building, these lessons he has taught us will never depart from our hearts. In these last days, reflect on who Mr. Elmer has been in your life. You could reflect on his classic, “Music is good for your head” quote, or personal connections and experiences you have shared with him that have shaped who you are.
The future of the band department looks optimistic. Mr. Jackson will step up as band director and along with him, many from the Junior School plan to continue the band, growing our numerical size. Keep practicing and hopefully, we won’t flunk our next band performance with Mr. Elmer in the audience.
It’s bittersweet to recollect these memories however, Mr. Elmer has assured us that this isn’t goodbye. We hope to see him in future plays and performances so keep practicing and keep your act up!