Alumni Spotlight
In Memoriam
This Spotlight was written in November 2006 and was being held for publication in a Music Department feature in VISION magazine. Sadly, we learned that Joy passed away January 9, 2007.
The text appears just as she approved it in November.
Our condolences go out to her family, including her husband, Mark (’69); her children, Heather and Mark II; and her parents, Dr. Virgil and Millie Nicholson, who are both Evangel professors emeriti; sisters Marilyn (’68) and Judy (’71); and a host of family and friends.
Joy and Mark made their home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where he still resides.
Joy (Nicholson ’70) Maynard
Major: Music Education
Occupation: Teacher, Band Director, Will Rogers Junior High, Claremore, Oklahoma
For the past 18 years, the Will Rogers Junior High Jazz Band in Claremore, Oklahoma, has averaged 25 concerts a year. They have played for more than 100,000 people, appeared on Tulsa morning television shows and performed on the Branson stage. The Concert Band has been rated as “superior” at the College of the Ozarks Choral Festival for 18 years.
How did they earn this prominent place? They were taught under the leadership of Joy Maynard.
Joy graduated from Evangel in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. Since then, she has taught in private schools and stayed at home with her children. In 1988, she took the position of Concert Band and Jazz Band director at Will Rogers Junior High in Claremore, Oklahoma. She estimates that approximately 1,000 students have been in her bands over the years.
In 1997 and 2000, Joy was named Will Rogers Junior High Teacher of the Year, and in 2006 she was named the District Teacher of the Year for Claremore and represented the school district in the Teacher of the Year regional and state finals.
“Her bands [are] known for their discipline, stage presence and unforgettable sound,” Rebecca Hattaway wrote in the Claremore Daily Progress.
For the past nine years, Joy’s Jazz Band has performed at Branson On Stage Live!, opening numerous times for popular musicians such as Lawrence Welk, the Presleys, and Doug Gabriel. They were asked to return, all expenses paid, for a second time in the summer of 2003 to perform for a group of 10 professional tour directors who were representing Branson On Stage Live! to other groups who were considering bringing a band to Branson.
In the fall of 2006, Joy was presented with the Guiding Light Award for her leadership in her band’s Branson On Stage Live! performances.
Joy’s Concert Band has also been successful, earning superior ratings for the past 18 years at the Band and Choral Festival at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout Missouri.
“I love the look in their eyes when they finally realize they’re making music and not just playing notes,” she said. “Being able to express yourself musically can’t be expressed with words because it goes straight to your soul,” Joy told the Claremore Daily Progress in June 2006.
She feels that the Jazz Band has put Will Rogers Junior High out into the community. They play for community banquets, civic clubs, elementary schools and annual events such as the Veterans Hospital Christmas party and Good Sams gathering.
“Lots of times kids don’t realize what we’ve done until they’re gone and the impact of that and how much fun it was sinks in,” Joy said.
In order to keep her students motivated to work hard, Joy requires them to practice outside of class and record their hours on a time sheet. Her students must also be ready when they come to class with their instrument, music and pencil.
“I’ve discovered you can’t make it without being organized and giving responsibility back to them,” she said.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Joy Nicholson Maynard Endowed Scholarship Fund at Evangel.