Band Teachers Are Team on and Off Field

Nothing marks the beginning of a new school year more poignantly than the sight of a high school marching band filing onto a freshly mowed football field, the shrill whistle of the drum major piercing the air.

Under cloudy skies on a recent Friday afternoon, the San Fernando High School Marching Band and Drill Team, decked in black shorts and white shirts, stepped onto the field to practice formations while the Tigers scrimmaged downfield.

“Pick those knees up, pick ‘em up!” Richard Gigger shouted. “OK, baby, let’s go now.”

Gigger, the high school’s band and music teacher, and his wife, Ellen Kaminer, who is in charge of drill team and piano instruction among other classes, huddled on the 50-yard line, then shouted directions through their bullhorns.

“That’s better, now,” Kaminer said to one of the nine drill team captains who stepped off the field to consult with her. “Just fill in those gaps over there.”

To the 75-member drill team and 24-member band, Gigger and Kaminer are known simply as Gig and Ms. G. The familiarity does not breed disrespect, however. The students say they view the couple as tough but loving parent figures who bring out the best in them.

“Ms. G. challenges us, she’s hard,” said senior Lorena Ramos, 17, a two-year drill-team veteran. “She’s taught us how to grow up and to see what it’s like out in the world. It’s definitely worth the hard work.”

Band member Mariaelena Perez, 16, also spoke positively of her experience.

“I’ve grown a lot because of the responsibility Gig puts on us,” said the junior, the youngest of 11 siblings, all onetime San Fernando High School band members. “He’s taught us that being here is not just about winning, but about life. He’s a second father to a lot of us. We can depend on him always.”

That’s no understatement.

A refrigerator occupying a wall of the office that adjoins Gigger’s and Kaminer’s rooms is stocked with food so that “no kid has to sit in school hungry,” Gigger said.

The duo, who live in Northridge, also hand out their phone number at the beginning of the term so that students can get in touch with them any time, day or night.

Gigger, 69, and Kaminer, 55, said they counsel their students on many issues, from academic goals to coping with unplanned pregnancies. But mostly, they said, the students just want the ear of a caring adult.

“Every kid wants to do something they can be proud of,” Kaminer said. “The drill team does this for our girls. As soon as the drums start to roll, the crowd roars and the girls grow three inches taller.”

“We don’t care about the trophies,” Gigger said. “Their education comes first. Band is second. I’d rather have just 10 kids who are good students than 30 poor students.”

When Gigger and Kaminer arrived at San Fernando High nearly two decades ago, there were only six students in the band. Now Gigger teaches three band classes, and he, along with Kaminer, has led the marching band and drill team to 11 city championships.

Gigger, a longtime Army bandmaster, met Kaminer at a New Jersey junior high school, where the pair were substitute teaching. Married 22 years, the couple have always team-taught.

“We act the same way here as we do at home,” Gigger said. “The kids see how we work off each other and how we problem-solve.”

“It’s like playing a duet,” Kaminer said, reaching out to touch her husband’s hand. “That’s how it’s always been with us.”