James Divine

There once was a little boy named Jimmy whose mom told him he could be anything he wanted…a policeman, a doctor, a lawyer, even the President of the United States. I exceeded all her expectations and became a music teacher!

I’m now a grown man with four kids (I married my high school sweetheart) and 10 grandkids. I love eating pizza, mountain biking, spending time with family, and long walks in the mountains holding hands (sorry, I reserve that for only one person, and it’s not you). My shoe size is 9.5 but please don’t send me any shoes…I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.

I retired from full time teaching but still teach band part time at a charter school. The rest of my time is spent speaking, training, writing, podcasting, and performing. And often holding hands and eating pizza and cannoli.

Now for the boring, adult stuff…

I earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s College in Maine and received my music education from the Army School of Music, graduating from the basic, intermediate, and advanced courses over a span of ten years, serving in Virginia, Japan and Colorado. I retired from the Army Band in 2006. I earned a teaching license from Western Colorado University and completed a master’s in music education at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. I believe in the value of life-long learning! I just don’t like standardized testing.

Member of the following:

Colorado Music Educator’s Association

American School Band Directors Association

Order of the Sons and Daughters of Italy.

My life-long goal continues to be to ACT MY SHOE SIZE, NOT MY AGE