DuBray Middle School Band Director Katheryn Fenske has been inducted into the Bandworld Legion of Honor. This national recognition is a special award of The John Philip Sousa Foundation. Only eight inductees are recognized each year. Nominees must have at least 15 years of experience teaching band and have demonstrated their involvement and dedication to bands and band music on the local, state and national levels.
In her eighth year with Fort Zumwalt and her 39th as a music educator, Fenske has been committed to working with middle school students and fostering their love of music. Teaching sixth, seventh and eighth graders means she works with a wide range of student experience.
"Music is an essential part of being human, and I strive to instill its joy in every student I encounter," she says in her professional philosophy statement. "It's really something to go from helping students who are uncertain how to open the instrument case when we start school to hearing them play together as a band before winter break," she says. Fenske embraces the opportunity each school year to work with beginning musicians on making sound. "We never call it noise. We make sound." she says with a smile. "We make sound, and then we make music."
As students move on to East High, Fenske remains involved, working as the Woodwind Specialist there with the marching and concert bands and coaching students for events such as Solo and Ensemble competition. Before coming to Fort Zumwalt, Fenske was Instrumental and Vocal Music Teacher for grades 9-12 at Barat Academy and Music Teacher for grades PreK-8 at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf. She also has taught in Illinois and Wisconsin.
"Fort Zumwalt is my celebration place, I knew it would be. I came here to celebrate and I have," Fenske says, "because of the amazing people who have made it possible for me to do what I love."
Beyond the classroom, Fenske has contributed to music education through numerous organizations, serving as a leader in the Metro District 8, the Missouri and the Wisconsin chapters of the American School Band Directors Association and as a member of several other groups. In 2023, she was Wisconsin Concert Band Association All-State Band Conductor.
"The Bandworld Legion of Honor was established in 1989 to honor, over the course of a year, eight of the finest band directors in our business," the organization says on its website. Fenske and the others were honored in December at the annual Sousa Foundation awards ceremony during the Midwest Band Clinic in Chicago.