For years, Roseville High School always had a basic guitar course on the books.  Traditionally, if and when the course was offered, it was likely taught by an interested teacher on campus who probably shared a strong passion for the guitar.  When I started teaching at RHS in 1986, I quickly learned that there were many teachers on campus that loved playing guitar.

My most sincere thanks and appreciation goes out to the following people. 

• Mr. Walt Wild who’s last name best describes his style of guitar playing. Walt plays a mean screaming heavy metal style of electric rock. I learned quickly not to let his laid back conservative personality fool me. Walt can hold his own with the best of the speed flash players from the 1980’s and beyond.  Walt also taught me what a real guitar amplifier is supposed to sound like.  
  

• Mr. Casey Griffin could strum an acoustic guitar louder than any person on the planet.  We lost Casey a few years ago and he is greatly missed at RHS. If acoustic guitars could stand up and defend themselves, all would agree that Casey literally scared them as he attacked the guitar neck with full force as though it was a high stakes wrestling match.  No string had a heavy enough gauge and no neck was warped enough to stop Casey from thrashing through a long barrage of John Fogerty songs. 
  

• Mr. Ike Ostrom, former RHS principal, and great acoustic guitar player who loved country music legends, including people like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Ike was the constant reminder to me that sometimes the most simple melody and chord structure carried the most powerful musical message. Music has the power to transcend the sole. Ike understood that guitar styles such as blues, folk, and country, were deeply rooted in the story of American History and to bypass them in favor of a pop style was liken to driving a car without directions.  
  

• Mr. Dave Bransetter who always had the best on stage attitude of any teacher I’d ever met. Nothing bothered Dave. We could all be on the wrong chord singing the wrong lyrics, but Dave’s smile constantly reminded me that guitar playing and performing are both about having fun. I greatly appreciated all of the ongoing public events when Dave would show up and support my own musical efforts beyond the classroom.  
  

• Mr. Paul Estridge, a teaching legend at RHS, and an excellent jazz guitarist and strong musical inspiration in my own personal musical journey of sorts, the two of us for several years would bring our guitars to school and play together during our lunch break. Fellow staff members also enjoyed hearing us play our guitars in the old teacher lunchroom, and for those occasional staff parties on weekends and at various school related events on and off campus.  Paul and I continued the traditional legacy of the RHS “Teach Boys” by performing during RHS school rallies.  Our loud electric guitars along with our long hair 80’s wigs made a very nice contrast to the cool acoustic jazz changes we jammed on during lunch time. One fine sunny day, while we were in the middle of one of our acoustic arrangements, Mr. Mike McGuire (now the GBHS Principal) came into the room to have a listen. He honestly thought one of us had a radio on and had dialed into a local jazz station. In short, Mike suggested that one of us consider teaching a guitar class the following year at RHS.  Again, the course was already on the books and so long as 30+ students signed up, we all agreed it was a good time to dust off the old curriculum and make the new offering for RHS students ASAP. 
  

The program began with one section of Beginning Guitar.  Student interest was high and the program continued to grow. As a history teacher working in the Social Science Dept. my teaching credential did not allow me to teach more than guitar 2 classes along with my social science schedule. Mr. Paul Estridge was kind enough to pick up the slack. Again, the program continued to grow until it was common to see 3 different sections available to RHS students.  At this point, RHS was in the process of making the transition over to the block schedule. The Federal program known as NCLB (No Child Left Behind) was changing the landscape of high school electives. Only “highly qualified” teachers with proper music certifications would be allowed to teach courses related to fine arts, including those in a guitar program.
..... I didn’t want to see the guitar program at RHS fall by the wayside. As I entered into discussions with Mr. John Montgomery (former RHS Principal) it was agreed by our district that I would be allowed to continue with the program while also taking evening and summer college courses now required in order to be in compliance with the new federal mandates. Because RHS was in transition to the block schedule, the program would likely become a full time teaching position. At this venture in the story, it should be noted that Mr. John Montgomery deserves my deepest thanks and appreciation for the fact that his patience and administrative oversight paved the way for the RHS guitar program to develop into the program that it has become. His vision here cannot be understated.  I would also like to sincerely thank Mr. Tony Monetti for his additional oversight of the program.   
.....As things now stand, all of our Roseville district high schools offer beginning guitar classes for their students.  Mr. John Harmon also deserves special recognition here for the excellent guitar program that he has developed at WHS. Mr. John Harmon wrote the “Advanced” level curriculum for our district so that students who had taken a Beginning Guitar class could move on to take a course that was more focused on performance standards.  A few years ago, John and I worked together to write an Intermediate Guitar course for the district so that the program would have a complete sequence in its course design.  Currently, both the RHS and WHS guitar programs have enjoyed course offerings for students that include both Intermediate and Advanced levels of instruction.  
..... I’ve honestly lost track of how many years it’s been that I’ve taught guitar classes at RHS, but my best guess is that I’m close to 20 years now. Still, The larger point to all this is that I’ve so much enjoyed the opportunity to teach a program for students that quite often continues on as a big part of their adult lives beyond their high school years.  I’ve stayed in contact with many former students via email and I’m constantly amazed at how popular the guitar continues to become in terms of world wide popularity.  I’m very proud of so many students that have gone on to develop their guitar playing skills with so many different directions and venues. Many have stayed musically active in their adult lives.   I’ve enjoyed countless experiences in the music business including years of local performing, road travel prior to my becoming a public school teacher, and years of studio recording.  But the experience of seeing past students begin their own musical journey of sorts is by far the greatest experience of all. The guitar has continued to be one of the greatest tools to help people navigate life.