Six Neag School of Education alumni have combined their shared passions for education and music outside the classroom on the instructional staff of New London’s 7th Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps. This year, the drum corps placed 7th overall at the Drum Corps International Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN and were Open Class Finalists for the third year in a row.

Michael Blancaflor, Kevin Lam, Dana Lyons, Thomas Sulzicki and Daniel Wyman, graduates of both the Music Department in the School of Fine Arts and the Teacher Preparation Program in the Neag School, along with Barbara Bauer, Neag School graduate in math education, all contributed to this successful season by providing the program quality training and experience. With their teaching backgrounds and participation in ensembles or instrumental instruction, the cohort has enjoyed working together to better the corps, while reconnecting with their UConn roots.

Being with the 7th Regiment is a commitment with long hours of preparation, practice and traveling during the summer months. High school and college students, ages ranging from 14 to 21-year-olds, make up the 80 member group.  Many of the members are student leaders back at their respective programs and bring their drum corps experience to their high school or college marching music ensembles.

The instructor team has enjoyed watching their students’ hard work pay off in recent competitions yet find that the most rewarding accomplishment is the overall progression in technique and production during the three month competitive season.

“The best part is when I get to stand back while the students play and observe all of the work that they have put into the performance,” said Sulzicki, a pit percussion instructor who graduated from the Neag School in 2009 with a degree in music education. “After a long day of 12 hour rehearsals in 90 degree weather, seeing the sense of accomplishment on their faces makes it all worth it.”

Sulzicki was contacted by a 7th Regiment staff coordinator in 2007 with a percussion technician job inquiry and immediately accepted the position. After working with various high school marching bands, Sulzicki had always dreamed of instructing a drum and bugle corps.

“I enjoy helping students perform at a higher level then they ever have before, which creates individuals that are more self-confident, self-aware, and enables them to work alongside others to create one work of art,” said Sulzicki, who is entering his third year as an elementary instrumental teacher in Danbury, CT.

Like Sulzicki, Lam admires the high level of intensity the 7th Regiment nurtures. After his involvement in the marching arts during high school, Lam furthered his experience with the Crossmen in 2005 and the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps in 2007. Lam began working on the brass staff of the 7th Regiment in 2008 through a referral from his roommates, Wyman and Sulzicki, before graduating with a Music Education degree in 2009.  Lam is entering his first year of teaching as the band director at Valley Regional High School in Deep River, CT.

“The students that take part in this activity do it because they truly enjoy it,” said Lam. “The ability to put together four very different musical and visual aspects of the drum corps together is an exciting process to watch and when these students get to perform, it is entertaining while providing them with skills and knowledge they will use for the rest of their lives.”

Colleagues Bauer and Lyons both currently work with the color guard, after marching together in the Connecticut Hurricanes Drum and Bugle Corps in the summer of 2007. During the fall, both Bauer and Lyons teach the Cheshire High School Marching Band with many members of the 7th Regiment staff. Bauer is entering her third year in Southbury, CT at Pomperaug High School, teaching in the math department while Lyons continues to work with East Hartford Public Schools in their instrumental string program.

“The other members of the instructional staff are talented, creative and fun people. I love working with them and have many fond memories with everyone on staff,” said Bauer.

Each of the 7th Regiment instructors had two years of experience participating in UConn’s Marching Band, an experience that added to their love for marching band techniques and music.

“We lend our experiences and abilities because we love the art form and we enjoy instructing our students,” said Lam.

For more information on the 7th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, check out their website at http://www.7thregiment.org. Also, visit a photo album of the instructional staff and students practicing this summer.