[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 120 (Sunday, August 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               IN HONOR OF THE RETIREMENT OF JERRY PRINCE

                                 ______


                           HON. GLENN POSHARD

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Sunday, August 21, 1994

  Mr. POSHARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jerry Prince of 
McLeansboro, IL on his retirement from McLeansboro Junior High School. 
For 31 years, Jerry served the people of southern Illinois as an 
educator and musician who unselfishly shared his musical talents with 
our children and our community. It is a privilege for me to enter into 
the Congressional Record a recent article from the Southern Illinoisan 
featuring Jerry Prince's dedicated career as a music director.

                           End of the Circuit

                           (By Linda Sickler)

       Jerry Prince isn't sure where his musical talent came from.
       There weren't many musical opportunities in the one-room 
     country school Prince attended as a child ``Obviously they 
     didn't have a band,'' he said.
       Except for a grandmother who played piano, Prince's family 
     wasn't particularly musical. But somehow, somewhere, he got a 
     talent that has taken him and his students to the top and 
     kept them there.
       Prince, the music education coordinator and director of 
     bands at the McLeansboro Junior High School, is retiring 
     after 31 years of teaching. He's getting out at the age of 51 
     because of the state's five-and-five retirement program, but 
     he's leaving behind a rich legacy of music.
       Ninety-seven percent of Prince's students have received 
     first place ratings in regional and state band contests over 
     the past 31 years. His bands have received ``Best of Class'' 
     awards at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield four years 
     in a row.
       When the junior high jazz band breaks into rousing versions 
     of ``Heartbreak Hotel'' and ``Blue Suede Shoes,'' it is easy 
     to see why. ``Can you believe they are seventh and eighth 
     graders?'' Prince asked proudly.
       Prince himself learned to play trumpet as a fifth grader. 
     But it wasn't until his grandfather took him to a recital by 
     the U.S. Marine Band that he realized he wanted to play an 
     instrument.
       ``She said she would buy me a horn,'' Prince said. ``It 
     just happened that the concert featured a trumpet solo, so I 
     said I wanted a trumpet. If it had been a tuba solo, I 
     probably would have wanted a tuba.''
       The trumpet was ordered promptly from the Spiegel catalog 
     and Prince started taking lessons. ``They cost 50 cents a 
     lesson,'' he said.
       When the county schools near McLeansboro were consolidated, 
     Prince came into town to the East Side School. ``I attended 
     the same school where I'm teaching now,'' he said.
       At East Side, Prince began formal band lessons, which 
     continued throughout high school. ``I actually was the band 
     director for three months my senior year because they fired 
     the other guy,'' he said with a laugh.
       ``I guess that was what got me interested in music 
     education. I got a scholarship to attend SIU in music 
     education.''
       Once again, Prince got an early start. ``I started teaching 
     before I got my degree,'' he said.
       Prince started his teaching career as a circuit rider, 
     teaching in six schools in Franklin, Saline and Hamilton 
     counties. ``There were circuit riding judges, preachers and 
     teachers,'' he said.
       ``I drove 100 miles a day and bought a new car every year. 
     Of course, gas was only 27 cents a gallon. I got a lot of 
     good experience then, experience I wouldn't trade.''
       Each school provided a different set of students with a 
     different set of circumstances. Prince said he had no trouble 
     learning all the students names.
       Circuit-riding teachers were a necessity. Without teachers 
     who were willing to go from school to school, many districts 
     would not have been able to provide music education.
       ``At that point in time, the medium-size rural schools 
     could not afford band,'' Prince said. ``I started many band 
     programs from scratch.''
       When he was hired, he was one of just three circuit-riding 
     teachers left in the state. The other two quit before Prince, 
     making him the last.
       After seven years of making the circuit, Prince accepted a 
     job with the McLeansboro district, even though it meant a 
     $5,000 salary cut. ``I had just gotten married and built a 
     new house, so I thought it was time to give up circuit 
     riding,'' he said.

  As a fellow educator, I commend Jerry Prince for his commitment to 
building and shaping the lives of our children through music and the 
arts. The musical programs Jerry Prince nurtured at McLeansboro Junior 
High School have touched the hearts and minds of many children, leaving 
them with a gift they can carry with them for a lifetime. Along with 
the people of the 19th Congressional District, I thank Jerry Prince for 
his 31 years of dedicated service as an educator and musician and I 
wish him and his family good health and happiness in the many wonderful 
years that await them.

                          ____________________