Mr. Looman {{memories}}

Fifth grade to twelfth grade the class of 2013 was blessed to have Mr. Looman as our teacher. He was apart of our lives. The memories are too numerous to count and more and more come to mind as the days go on, but these are just a few examples. These were put together for Mrs. Looman, but everyone else should have a chance to share in these too. 

Mr. Looman

 got out all the music for Oh Holy Night because I wanted to play it. 

 taught me to calm my nerves before performances.

 would play Star Wars music with me after school.

played the Michigan Fight song on his trombone in the halls when Michigan won.

always gave the top practicer a chocolate bar in elementary school-I won!

and I had a running joke that we would play Walk This Way for pep band.

 got Call Me Maybe for pep band because we asked for it.

bought me a pizza three times throughout high school to make up for the ones he owed me during elementary and middle school.

and I had countless MSU vs. Michigan fights.

made all the boys stop and text their mommies in New York.

always made the music seem magical and unreal. I remember being so grateful that my seat was in the middle of the band because sometimes I would close my eyes and just listen to the music. It was hard to believe that it was our band playing the music I heard. He had a way of pulling the best out of us.

knew every word to the Calvin Christian High School fight song and sang it loud and proud during class.

always used the screaming lady: WAAN TWOOO THREE FOOORRR WAAN TWOOO TREEE FOOORRR. We would all just start laughing. Pretty soon, Mr. Looman started imitating it himself. 

decided that as a new exercise we were going to do breathing, stretching, and balloons at the beginning of class. I remember thinking that it was crazy, but then I realized, it was actually working. He always poured every bit of himself into his teaching by learning new techniques that only made us better. 

always bought us donuts after concerts, even when we didn't deserve them.

said he would take us to Great Wolf Lodge if we got all 1's in festival for middle school. Both years of middle school our band never made it to that point. We were quite bitter about this freshman year and vented to him. He told us that if we played in band for the next four years he would take us. In fact, we made him sign a sticky note to keep it true. A simple sticky note with his signature. 

did devotionals every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It was my favorite part of the morning. They were always perfect. The last one that he read to us was about how God had a reason for everything. How much did I need those words as I am still clinging to that promise.  

greeted us at the door singing, "Good morning, good morning, gooood morning!" He wanted us to be pumped at 7:48 A.M. 

never made us hand in practice records.

ripped his pants right before festival, but laughed about it the entire night.

was going to surprise us. Us seniors had asked to play all of our old music after festival and he said no, but when we went into his office after festival, Pirates of the Caribbean was on his desk.

 always stood by the door after band saying, "be good."

let us complain about everything and never got angry.

had us warm up by playing 1, 3, 5 which just turned into us playing chaotically, but he allowed it.

let us play percussion for songs if we were chosen. 

tried to keep us quiet with bribing us with candy for the quietest section in elementary school.

told me I couldn't play flute because "I had too big of a mouth, in more than one way."

was never in the hallway without his coffee mug.

was always kind to me. Even though I sat with horrible posture and talked in class everyday, he was patient and always in a good mood.

said all the time, "This is just an opportunity for us to show how Christians act."

had sweat dripping down his forehead and wiped it with his towel during a performance.

bragged during class about he was able to beat other teachers like Mr. Adema, Mr. Overvoorde in bike races regardless of his age. He did it too!

always was tapping the pulse on his chest and taking a huge breath before beginning a song.

did a sigh of relief with a smile and a "Good Job" after every song regardless of how we played.

always encouraged me with my solos, no matter how bad they sounded.

never stopped moving. Junior year when it was pouring rain during the festival, the van got stuck at the loading dock. Mr. Looman appointed people to push the van out of the mud and went on as if nothing had happened.

always came up to talk to me when I saw him in random places like biking on a trail.

When Mr. Looman asked our band if we should go onto state festival senior year, everyone said no except me, so we went.

woke me up during band when I fell asleep to let me know my part was next.

fought for his band. When he heard that numbers might be lower, he gave us a lecture. That is the only time I remember him being angry. He told us all the benefits of music and what it does. Told us that he would just quit and go drive trucks if he didn't have a band. Next year, we had a band bigger than the last. 

always saw me texting in band or doing homework, but never yelled at me.

was open with us, especially when he lost his dad. He told us, while crying and prayed with us. It was such a special moment. 

told us the meaning and stories of songs over and over again. We secretly loved it.

always was happy. The simple joyful smile that filled his face when he was teaching or lost in the music.

never let the tire popping on the way to the festival stop his attitude for the day.

made us chant in Sang, which was ridiculous at first, but it turned into a favorite song fast!

let me get away with talking all the time and never changed my seat, as many times as he threatened.

gave me private trumpet lessons during the summers of middle school and going into high school. He gave me a Phantom of the Opera book and wanted me to play from there. I didn't like it because I didn't know the music or understand the play. He promised me that one day he'd show it to me. This spring when we took our trip to New York and saw Phantom of the Opera, his promise came true. After he died, I went back and found that book and the last song in the book is called "Wishing You Were Here Somehow Again."Boy, do I wish that were true.

never let anything stop him from accomplishing his goals.

hands down was everyone's favorite.

loved us more than anything and made sure we knew it. It was impossible to be around him and not know it.

made the music come alive. When we played, I couldn't believe it was us. He had a way of pulling the best from us and making it magical. It was more than band class. 

We loved him more than anything. Mr. Looman was more than a teacher to us. 

He was a mentor, father figure, and a role model. 

Love, seniors '13