06/14/2026
From David Duarte with Culture before Content
Thus ends year 36…
As another school year has closed or comes to a close, I want to encourage you to remember something we often tell our students but rarely tell ourselves:
Culture before content.
We spend our careers building culture for others.
We create communities.
We build traditions.
We teach students how to work together, support one another, and become part of something bigger than themselves.
But sometimes we forget that the same principle applies to us.
The music matters.
The performances matter.
The ratings matter.
The curriculum matters.
But none of those things matter if the person standing on the podium is exhausted, burned out, and running on empty.
This summer, put yourself first.
Respect yourself.
Do your job amazingly well during the school year, but do not allow your job to define who you are.
You are more than a band director.
You are more than a concert program.
You are more than a festival rating.
You are more than an enrollment number.
You are a spouse, a parent, a friend, a musician, a traveler, a reader, a gardener, a golfer, a fisherman, a camper, a creator, a dreamer, and a human being.
The profession will still be here in August.
The emails can wait.
Turn on the auto-reponder
The planning can wait.
The electronics can wait.
Get off the screens.
Turn off the notifications.
Close the laptop.
Go do the things that remind you who you are outside of your classroom.
When we talk about culture before content, we are really talking about people before products.
Relationships before results.
Human beings before performances.
That applies to students.
It also applies to us.
Take care of yourself this summer.
Recharge.
Reconnect.
Rediscover the things that bring you joy.
Because when the fall arrives, your students do not need the most productive version of you.
They need the healthiest version of you.
The most rested version of you.
The most fulfilled version of you.
We need great teachers.
But before that, we need healthy people.
Culture before content.
Always.
