What has kept Allen Slater motivated to teach for 37 years is the opportunity to show students the beauty in music, and in life.

“I’ve tried to bring that fascination, with that joy, with that love of music to kids ever since I’ve been teaching and along that process we’ve talked a lot about living life,” said Slater, who will retire at the end of the school year.

For the past 28 years, students have made music together­ in his classroom at Flathead High School.

If students take away one lesson besides learning to play an instrument well, Slater said, “I hope they understand the beauty of life and that they’re a part of that by creating it, but also they’re valuable. Sometimes kids come in and they don’t understand how valuable they really are.”

Has it been easy to keep up the energy and enthusiasm as a band director and music department chairman every day and participate in 50 to 70 performances a year?

“Of course,” he said, adding, “They bring their own enthusiasm and energy. What I’ve tried to do is make that work in a collaborative way as we make music and sometimes it’s hard work — like most times — but it’s rewarding.”

The work ethic that Slater, 60, works to instill in students in addition to working collaboratively is for them to think creatively, strive for excellence and learn that success is built on practice.

“Not every day is going to be peaches and roses. Sometimes the biggest thing to learn is you’ve got to keep working. It didn’t work today but you still got to come back and we got to make it work tomorrow,” Slater said.

As to how many instruments Slater can play, he said the question should be how many he plays well.

“I can play them all of course; it’s how many can I play well?” he said with a laugh. His specialty is brass instruments. “Which is why at pep band games you might see me up there playing a trumpet, or a French horn part or a trombone.”

Slater’s interest in band began in fifth grade when he was selected to play the sousaphone. In college, at the University of Montana, he played the bass trombone while earning a bachelor’s degree in music education.

“I came in as a general student first year. I tried several curricular areas to learn what I wanted to do and it became really clear to me — one was I wanted to be able to help other people and the only curricular field that I felt like had unlimited potential was music,” Slater said.

He went on to earn a master’s in education at Vandercook College of Music in Chicago while specializing in the euphonium.

It is not just high school students who benefit from Slater’s leadership, knowledge and expertise, but also colleagues as he serves in a variety of roles at the state level.

“That’s part of what education is in our field, is helping others and I feel a really strong pull to give back to the educators in our state. Part of my success has been other educators who have done those things for me,” he said.

Slater currently serves on the Montana High School Association music committee helping organize music festivals and other activities and on the advisory board for the Montana Music Educators Association “Cadenza” magazine. In the past he has served as president of the Montana Bandmasters Association, state manager of the Montana Music Educators Association and has helped in past revision sessions of state standards in the arts.

His efforts in music education and the talent of his students have not gone unrecognized. His alma mater, the University of Montana, recently recognized his years of excellence and dedication.

In 2013 Slater earned the National Federation of State High School Associations’ Outstanding Music Educator Award for Section 8, which includes Montana, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska, based on significant, long-term contributions to a state’s interscholastic music program. He was also named one of the “50 Directors Who Make a Difference” for 2007 in School Band and Orchestra magazine. In 1999, Slater was recognized as Flathead Valley’s Arts Educator of the Year.

The Flathead High School band program recently received a SupportMusic Merit Award from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation as part of the Best Communities for Music Education program. In 2013, the program was named a National Band Association Blue Ribbon Finalist for the northwestern division.

The heart of music at Flathead still beats loudly after all these years.

Slater said there are more than 530 student requests to take band, choir, orchestra or music classes next year at Flathead.

“It’s been a very active music program here, which is very exciting,” Slater said.

At the end of the year Slater is looking forward to a full summer off, completing projects around the house, playing golf and spending more time with his wife Becky, of whom he said, “I could not be anything if I was without her.”

He will still be making music, though, in his retirement.

“I’m actually going to practice an hour a day if you can believe that,” he said, noting the last time he had time to do that was in the late 1980s while earning his master’s degree.

“I probably will be back in school in some sense, doing some festivals I’m sure,” Slater said. “I’ll miss seeing the kids every day — that’s always been the lifeblood. It’s hard to say you won’t see their lives change and be part of that change.”

The public is invited to celebrate Slater’s retirement at 5 p.m. June 11 in the high school commons.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.