Orlando, Florida Local News
Why one middle school band director dresses up for his morning traffic duty
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A middle school teacher is making morning drop-off more fun with unique costumes. Adam Joiner has been working at Thomas Jefferson Middle School for about 15 years. He is the band director for students enrolled in music courses, but he is known school-wide for the costumes he wears while directing morning traffic.Over the years, Joiner has dressed up as Harry Potter, Waldo from “Where’s Waldo?,” Gru from “Despicable Me” and more. When sister station WXII visited Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Joiner’s giant chef hat made him easy to spot among the dozens of cars dropping off students. Along with the hat, Joiner was wearing a small apron and a traffic vest. In one hand, he had an oversized whisk, and in the other, he had a hand-held stop sign. Along with the chef costume, Joiner had a fitting slogan for parents.“I tell them they shouldn’t cook up trouble because that’s my job,” he said. Joiner says the tradition of wearing costumes actually began with wearing funky socks with sandals. Kids noticed and began giving him fun hats to wear. From there, the tradition evolved into full costumes. Joiner says the costumes not only get parents to notice him in traffic, but also give students a fun start to the day. “One of the biggest things in schools is following rules is important, and oftentimes, we’re hard on them at the very beginning. ‘You’ve got to step in line, you’ve got to sit down, you’ve got to stop talking,’” Joiner said. “The first experience is often negative, and I want their first experience to be positive.”He says it also turns traffic from a negative experience into a positive one.“Parents hate it, kids hate it, teachers hate it,” he said. “And this diffuses that.”On a typical morning, Joiner says he wears one of his nearly 150 hats for morning drop-off. He saves the full costumes for Fridays.However, for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, he decided to go all out. He decided to become the villain from “The Little Mermaid,” Ursula, sporting blow-up tentacles and a mask.“I was coming up with ‘Poor, Unfortunate Soul’ lyrics all week, and so I sang them as they came in,” Joiner said. Other staff members in the car line expressed their admiration for Joiner’s dedication to dressing up. Among them is Jefferson’s principal, Jessica Gillespie-Johnson.“It’s amazing. I love being out here in the morning with the music playing and him down there,” she said. “It gives the kids a great way to come into the building. It’s very welcoming.”Joiner says dressing up is also fun for him and helps him develop relationships with students and parents. “It’s not about the pencil and the paper,” Joiner said. “It’s about having a great time learning stuff, and this helps kind of initiate that.”He has no intention of stopping, so students and parents can enjoy his costumes for many mornings to come. “Who knows what will come next!” he said.
A middle school teacher is making morning drop-off more fun with unique costumes.
Adam Joiner has been working at Thomas Jefferson Middle School for about 15 years. He is the band director for students enrolled in music courses, but he is known school-wide for the costumes he wears while directing morning traffic.
Over the years, Joiner has dressed up as Harry Potter, Waldo from “Where’s Waldo?,” Gru from “Despicable Me” and more.
When sister station WXII visited Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Joiner’s giant chef hat made him easy to spot among the dozens of cars dropping off students.
Along with the hat, Joiner was wearing a small apron and a traffic vest. In one hand, he had an oversized whisk, and in the other, he had a hand-held stop sign.
Along with the chef costume, Joiner had a fitting slogan for parents.
“I tell them they shouldn’t cook up trouble because that’s my job,” he said.
Joiner says the tradition of wearing costumes actually began with wearing funky socks with sandals. Kids noticed and began giving him fun hats to wear. From there, the tradition evolved into full costumes.
Joiner says the costumes not only get parents to notice him in traffic, but also give students a fun start to the day.
“One of the biggest things in schools is following rules is important, and oftentimes, we’re hard on them at the very beginning. ‘You’ve got to step in line, you’ve got to sit down, you’ve got to stop talking,’” Joiner said. “The first experience is often negative, and I want their first experience to be positive.”
He says it also turns traffic from a negative experience into a positive one.
“Parents hate it, kids hate it, teachers hate it,” he said. “And this diffuses that.”
On a typical morning, Joiner says he wears one of his nearly 150 hats for morning drop-off. He saves the full costumes for Fridays.
However, for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, he decided to go all out. He decided to become the villain from “The Little Mermaid,” Ursula, sporting blow-up tentacles and a mask.
“I was coming up with ‘Poor, Unfortunate Soul’ lyrics all week, and so I sang them as they came in,” Joiner said.
Other staff members in the car line expressed their admiration for Joiner’s dedication to dressing up. Among them is Jefferson’s principal, Jessica Gillespie-Johnson.
“It’s amazing. I love being out here in the morning with the music playing and him down there,” she said. “It gives the kids a great way to come into the building. It’s very welcoming.”
Joiner says dressing up is also fun for him and helps him develop relationships with students and parents.
“It’s not about the pencil and the paper,” Joiner said. “It’s about having a great time learning stuff, and this helps kind of initiate that.”
He has no intention of stopping, so students and parents can enjoy his costumes for many mornings to come.
“Who knows what will come next!” he said.
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