Lindsay Band Director Ready To Perform At Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Music bonds people together no matter who they are or where they live. That’s a message an Oklahoma band teacher orchestrates every day. Her music will connect with people from around the country on Thanksgiving Day. 

As the colors on the trees change so does the music we hear as high school students prepare for their Christmas concerts. Inside the four brick walls of Lindsay High School practice makes perfect. 

Shelby Lam’s classroom is a place where students embrace failure – to achieve. Lam started teaching when she was in high school. Shelby teaches unity through the symphony. “We’re building those relationships together,” Lam said. 

Together – Lam and her students master a skill to last a lifetime. “You can be from a small school and still do big things,” Lam said. 

Shelby hopes to inspire big things through her future performance in the Big Apple as part of the Saluting America’s Band Directors Marching Band in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. She is the lone Oklahoma band director performing in the parade. “It’s very exciting,” Lam said. “You almost feel like a kid again getting to perform and play.” 

Shelby loves these opportunities, but she lives for these moments -- the chance to teach people like Dylan Rains who rests on a different level. “She’s one of my favorites,” said Rains, complimenting her teacher. “I like everything about [music].” 

Rains is only in seventh grade. “If anything, she’s inspired the rest of her class to get better,” Lam said. 

Teachers motivate students and accompany them toward their own moment in the spotlight. “She’s gonna be the next all-state flute player,” Lam said. “That’s the goal.” 

The relationships formed through the sound of music reveal the heartbeat of Oklahoma. “I hope that I can represent not only myself but Oklahoma schools in the right way that it should be,” Lam said. “I’m gonna play the heck out of that piccolo next week.”