Timothy Bond, who prefers to be called TJ, is from Edwardsburg, MI. "I like being out of the city. I love the space. It' nice, quiet, peaceful. The community has been so welcoming. Everything here is so positive." He has experienced being called Mr. Bond and laughs because his name usually breaks the ice. He has a lot of experience in both band and singing.
He plays up to 21 different instruments, but his main instrument is the saxophone. He does compose music as well, and he loves arranging. In the future, he would like to encourage students to pick some new songs that they would like to play, especially for the pep band that he could arrange. I want to work towards a jazz band.
He sings at the tenor range and as a lot of experience in singing in groups. He has some ideas, in fact, ideas on top of ideas, but needs to wait and see where the students are and what the students want.
He also has advanced skill in speaking and interpreting American Sign language and does plan on implementing that in the grade school music program.
TJ has a teaching motto, which is very important to him. He learned the word from Dr. David Montgomery, who now teaches at Baylor University in Texas. "It is a Latin word. It is a command. Servian, it means wherever the students are, I will serve their needs. Sometimes that means the teacher has to be tough, and sometimes the teacher needs to be the clown, and a good teacher goes between the two effortlessly."
He can play the piano but admits he wouldn't be as good as Amanda Robertson. He is looking for students who want to learn to play the piano. He would be a good teacher for beginners.
TJ knows he is stepping into a wonderful music program that Amanda Robertson left to raise a family. He wants to keep the excellence of what Big Sandy already has, but believes he has skills that can contribute to it as well. He is very excited to begin the journey and is looking forward to students who love music as he does.
