Foothills School Division teacher celebrated as Band Director of the Year

We are pleased to announce Mr. Jace Stearn accepted the 2022 Alberta Band Association’s (ABA) Elkhorn Band Director of the Year award. Mr. Stearn was presented with the award at the ABA Annual General Meeting on October 22, 2022, which took place during Music Conference Alberta.  The award recipient is chosen by their peers, who are former Elkhorn winners.

Says Mr. Stearn, “I am humbled beyond measure to be selected as the 2022 Alberta Band Association Elkhorn Band Director of the Year. I am honoured to be a member of this list of such accomplished educators. This accolade is shared with so many, and I would not be here without the amazing collaboration and mentorship from my Highwood High School teaching team over the last 17 years: Tom Taylor, Jeff Graham, Paul Stelter and Dylan Wiest. This award would not be possible without the hard work of many amazing students, in addition to the supportive culture created by numerous administration teams over the years.”

After graduating from the University of Victoria, Mr. Stearn started his teaching career at Stelly’s Secondary, in Saanichton, British Columbia.  The rest of his teaching career of 21 years has been in Foothills School Division, starting at Okotoks Junior High, with the last 17 years at Highwood High School.

"I am humbled beyond measure to be selected as the 2022 Alberta Band Association Elkhorn Band Director of the Year. I am honoured to be a member of this list of such accomplished educators." 

The bands under Mr. Stearn’s direction have consistently been the recipient of Gold Awards for Superior Performance at music festivals at the provincial and national levels. Mr. Stearn brings to his teaching a wide variety of professional performance experience, performing on bassoon or contrabassoon with numerous symphony orchestras, notably the Victoria and Vancouver Symphonies and the Calgary Philharmonic.

Mr. Stearn has also spent the last 12 years as the Lead Band Teacher for FSD, providing classroom and program support for all of the area band programs.

“We are proud to have Mr. Stearn as part of our team here at FSD,” stated Mr. Chris Fuzessy, Superintendent of Schools, “Jace’s dedication to lead learning through music has always been appreciated, but it is especially heartening to see his passion celebrated by his peers. We are fortunate and grateful to have such talent in our midst.”

Please join us in celebrating Mr. Stearn’s honour—Bravo!