Kathy Welch, left, receives a stuffed animal from Sebastian Jones at Wild Waves. In the background are student Hunter Smith and chaperones Leslie Cook and Welch's sister, Karen.
After the yellow school bus rumbled into the parking lot Sunday evening, exhausted Toledo High School band students and chaperones plopped down the steps and scattered to their homes following another successful Rag Tag adventure.
It was the 16th — and last — for teacher Kathy Welch, who has guided the musical instruction of Southwest Washington singers and band players for 32 years.
Students raise money throughout the year for the spring trip, but Welch always keeps the destination a surprise. A few times they traveled to Silverwood in Idaho. More recently, when I’ve chaperoned, we’ve visited Seaside, McMinnville and Wilsonville in Oregon. Last weekend, the bus carried students north of Seattle to Edmonds for Whirlyball and a stop at Funko HQ and a mall. The kids (and chaperones) played high-tech laser tag Saturday followed by Grand Prix Racing and another shopping trip. We spent Sunday at Wild Waves before heading home.
“It’s been a really fun time and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world,” said Calvin Wallace, a sophomore.
“She’s a great teacher,” said Jeremy Cook, a senior. “She makes us do activities every day in band. It’s just fun.”
After graduating from Raymond High School and earning bachelor’s degrees in music and performance from Washington State University, Welch launched her career in 1987 at White Pass Junior-Senior High School, where she taught band, choir and English. She then worked 12 years at Kalama Junior-Senior High School before taking a job at Toledo in 2003, where she shepherded band students from fifth grade through graduation. Welch taught both my son and my daughter to love music as they played in the band.
“If it weren’t for Miss Welch and the Toledo High School Music Department, I wouldn’t have the courage and the passion to continue my love of music in the Cougar Marching Band at Washington State University,” said my daughter, Nora Zander, this year’s band president. “Miss Welch not only encouraged me countless times, but she also fostered my love of music and made my time at the high school fun.”
“Miss Welch is a great teacher,” said Anthony Peak, another senior who has been in band since fifth grade. “She’s inspired us a lot throughout the years, and she’s always been fun, happy and just a really great teacher.”
Welch taught many students from the moment they picked up an instrument in fifth grade through senior year. She won’t miss the paperwork, staff meetings, or even school bus rides, which she described as “fun but they’re hard on the body.”
“The kids are the best,” she said. “I like music kids because a lot of times they don’t fit anywhere else, and I want them to fit in. Music is a family, and no matter where you go, you can be part of music.”
Welch inherited the Rag Tag trip from her predecessor, Martha Sturgeon, who started it 20 years ago at the suggestion of a parent to reward the kids for the hours spent playing in pep band at football and basketball games. Students must participate in 75 percent of the pep band performances to attend Rag Tag, which usually costs between $7,000 and $8,000. This year students sold cookie dough, held a Bingo night, and ran a bake sale to earn money for the trip. Parents also helped with fundraising by volunteering in the concession stand at basketball games.
“Our Rag Tag trip is always fun,” Welch said, adding that she hopes it continues.
Welch has enjoyed following her students after they graduated from high school. Some became band and choir instructors. Others sing or play professionally. Several from Kalama play in the Longview Community Band, which Welch plans to join after retiring. “I could play alongside former students, which I think would be fun.”
Why not? She performs with her former band teacher from Raymond in the Northwest Jazz Orchestra.
As a child, she joined band because a boy she liked was enrolled. He played tenor saxophone so she played alto saxophone to sit beside him. In addition to saxophones, she plays piano, trumpet, clarinet, trombone and baritone.
Welch noted the importance of music to students and their education. When Toledo dropped its elementary music program for a few years, she said, reading levels fell.
“The kids didn’t have any kind of rhythm,” she said. “They get that rhythm from music and singing and then they get that flow in their reading. It does go hand in hand.”
Welch loves her students. And they love her.
“I’m blessed to have such a nice band teacher,” said Layla Johnston, another senior.
“She’s the greatest music teacher there is,” said senior Sebastian Jones. “She taught me that high school isn’t just a drag. I mean that high school can actually be fun. You get to do fun things like this, and I’ll encourage every other kid who comes up through school to do band.”
“I just think that she really made music fun,” said Jonathan Cisneros, a sophomore. “It’s just her that inspired everyone to start their music and really love it.”
“Miss Welch has been with me since fifth grade,” said sophomore Hunter Smith. “She’s been one of the best teachers that I’ve always been able to talk to. I’m going to miss her a lot.”
“She taught me since fifth grade, and I’m really sad she’s going,” said Alora Barratt, a sophomore.
Welch said the time is right for her to retire.
“I’m to the point where I can’t bounce back as quick as I used to,” she said. “It’s time for somebody younger who’s ready to fight to get the music program overall more respect and more time.”
•••
Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
