A true leader with a baton

In honor of Hewlett High School’s longtime band director, James Dragovich, and the way he pushes students to excel, an alumnus wants to establish a scholarship for a senior graduating from the band program.

Dragovich has worked in the Hewlett-Woodmere district for 32 years, the last 28 as the director of bands at Hewlett High. Under his baton, the school’s wind and jazz ensembles have received gold ratings at New York State School Music Association festivals.

“The idea is to honor his career and the impact he’s had,” said Eric Weinstein, who is spearheading the creation of the award. Weinstein played the trumpet for four years, and graduated from Hewlett High School 13 years ago. The 31-year-old now lives in the Philadelphia area and is the vice president of finance for Allmark Door, a commercial and industrial door company.

With contributions in the thousands, he said he thinks the award this year will be about $500 to allow for budgeting in future years. “The amount collected so far is overwhelming,” he added.

“In many cases, scholarships are named for people that have retired or even passed,” Weinsten said, but this award is different because Dragovich is currently teaching the student who will receive the first award.

Dragovich has encouraged many students, including Josh Pinkow, a 2004 graduate who remembers Dragovich giving him a piece of music that included a challenging solo. “I would never have let myself do that, but he made it happen.”

Pinkow, who played the baritone horn, initially said he did not want to perform the music. Dragovich urged him to try. “I think I nailed it,” said Pinkow, who played in the Hewlett band all four years of high school. He grew up in Hewlett and now lives in Long Beach.

“Mr. Dragovich is an exceptional teacher who possesses a passion for music and genuine care for his students,” said Dr. Theodore Fulton, Hewlett High’s principal. “I think he has inspired his students to push beyond preconceived boundaries and limitations while instilling a lifelong love of music.” Fulton said that he is impressed with how much time Dragovich dedicates to ensure student success “both in and outside of the classroom.”

“He wants 100 percent, and that is what makes him an excellent teacher,” said Walter Lastowski, who has worked with Dragovich for 22 years. Lastowski, the district’s director of art and music, has been with the district since 1996 and took over as director last July. He succeeded Kevin Bayen, who retired after more than 40 years in the district.

Lastowski added that he thinks the scholarship is an example of the impact music and art have on students, noting that it is a tribute to all those who teach those subjects. He emphasized the importance of the arts. “It teaches them how to think, create and be better human beings,” he said.

Dragovich has both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from what was then C.W. Post and is now LIU Post. He also has a master’s in wind conducting from Hofstra University. In 2007, he joined the Hofstra music education faculty to teach undergraduate and graduate classes in percussion and brass. He also worked on the music education faculty of C.W. Post for 16 years.

His resume includes serving as the original director of the Nassau-Suffolk Jazz Band, a group of musicians between grades eight and 12 from across Long Island. The band is part of the Nassau-Suffolk Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization founded in 1994 with the goal of offering additional rehearsal and performance opportunities for jazz and concert band student musicians.
He has conducted in Canada, Walt Disney World and along the East Coast. Dragovich serves as a judge and clinician for both the Music in the Parks and Festivals of Music organizations, and is on the advisory board of Best Bands International.

The Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education needs to approve the scholarship. The next meeting is May 17, at 8 p.m., at the Woodmere Education Center at 1 Johnson Place in Woodmere. A GoFundMe page was created for the scholarship fund on April 27, and raised over $1,000 in the first four days.

To learn more about the scholarship fund, visit http://bit.ly/2qfVjVg. To contribute to the fund, visit the GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/james-dragovich-scholarship-fund or send a check to Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools, Attn: Art & Music, 1 Johnson Place, Woodmere, N.Y. 11598. The check should be made out to Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools with “James Dragovich Scholarship Fund” on the memo line.

Have a story you want to share about James Dragovich? Send it to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.