Check out my new website Tom Brown's Accordion
My name is Tom Brown, and I am a retired seventh and eighth-grade social studies teacher from Seitz Middle School in Riverview, Michigan. I've taught in the Detroit, Michigan area since 1972 and became a teacher for the Riverview Community School District in January of 1974. I graduated from Allen Park High School in 1966. I earned an A.A. degree from Henry Ford Community College in 1968. I received my B.S. degree in December 1970 and my M.A. degree in 1977 from Eastern Michigan University. In June of 2006, I decided to retire from teaching.
I have had the pleasure of teaching with the best staff and in the best school district for 32 1/2 years. In 2005, I was selected for the seventh time out of nine publishings of the book Who's Who Among America's Teachers. To be selected, a teacher must be nominated by a "senior honor student." Because I was the sponsor for our school's Junior Honor Society for ten years, I was awarded an "Honorary Membership" into the Red Oaks Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society on June 3, 1998. In May of 2001, I was recognized as a "Special Educator" by our school district's special education director, Mr. Howard Berlin!
I'm also a Vietnam Era Veteran and belong to The Vietnam Veterans of America Plymouth-Canton, Michigan. I am the chapter's webmaster, editor of our monthly newsletter, co-chair of our Annual Essay Competition, and co-chair of the Wayne County Fishing Derby. During my two years of active military service, I was extremely lucky to stay in the U.S. during the time of the Vietnam War - especially since I was drafted after I graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a B.S. degree. In my first year of military service, I was assigned to work on the Pershing I nuclear missile at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After 5 months of missile training, I was chosen to be Lt. Colonel Quinlan's aide of the 9th Missile Group. During my final year at Fort Sill, I had the honor of being the personal "aide" for Colonel William C. Parker, III Army Corps Commanding Officer.
My hobbies include watching the University of Michigan football, the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Lions, the Detroit Pistons, and the Detroit Red Wings;, fishing;, astronomy; computers; and music - playing the accordion and keyboards. I've been playing the accordion since I was seven years old. When I was sixteen, I joined a dance band and have been playing as a professional musician ever since with various bands and orchestras. My longest continuous gig was playing every Saturday night from 1972 - 1979 at the Riverview/Wyandotte Moose Club with a five-piece dance band called The Highlanders. Playing with professional musicians twice my age was an extreme honor as well as a great learning experience. They taught me how to read music charts, change key signatures on the spot, and play music from the "Big Band Era." But the band that I played with the longest is The Knight Kats.
I started playing with the Knight Kats before my senior year. I continued playing with them until I was drafted into the U.S. Army in December of 1970 after just graduating from Eastern Michigan University. I reformed the original Knight Kats band in 1979 and this time we played together for about seven years. If you look closely, you can see my wife Cheryl who was our female vocalist - lucky me! I have also played with other bands and orchestras in the Detroit area during the past forty years. Most of my recent musical engagements have been as a strolling accordionist. I have to give my mother credit and thanks for making me practice the accordion for at least one hour every day and two hours on Saturday and Sunday - even during summer! Currently I am a member of both the American Accordinists' Association and the Michigan Accordion Society.
I have three heroes. Al Kaline who played right field for the Detroit Tigers, Art Van Damme who is the world's greatest jazz accordionist, and my father! I was the luckiest boy on my street because my father played baseball and football with all the neighborhood kids! He was our Scout Master, Little League Manager, and WYMCA bus driver/director. It was because of my dad that I decided to become a teacher since he was a social studies teacher and a principal for more than forty years with the Detroit Public Schools.
Mr. Brown's Cyber School Home Page
Page created by: seitzteacher@yahoo.com
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