Teacher from Queens became key part of Omaha Tribe during his 47-year career

X post in GD



MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
Members of the Omaha Tribe in Thurston County, Nebraska, perform their Gourd Dance to celebrate the 47-year teaching career and retirement of John Mangan, center, a wiry Irishman from New York and honorary tribal member who taught generations of children at the Omaha Nation Public School, and changed many lives.


http://www.omaha.com/columnists/hansen-teacher-from-queens-became-key-part-of-omaha-tribe/article_658d7555-b89f-51ad-a3e9-61b4612170cf.html

POSTED: SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2015 1:00 AM
By Matthew Hansen / World-Herald columnist

MACY, Neb. — Step inside the band room here, squeeze your eyes shut, and for a moment let your ears and everything you think you know about the world lead you astray.

“Two, three, four!” booms a voice with the slightest hint of an Irish accent.

Clarinets bleat. Trumpets toot. Saxophones honk. It sounds familiar, sounds timeless, sounds ... wait, is that Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony”?

It’s a little squeaky, sure, a little slow, but not bad, either — probably seventh-graders, your ears tell you, getting their Ludwig on at a suburban middle school where students shell out hundreds of dollars for their own instruments and take private lessons and practice diligently at home.

FULL story at link.