Menomonee Falls High School to induct three into Hall of Fame
Three Menomonee Falls High School alumni who have accomplishments in the fine arts category will get their names and faces added to the school's Wall of Fame.
Jaime Rossmiller, Roger Bochek and Andrew Hacker will be inducted to the Falls Wall of Fame as fine arts inductees at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, at 7 p.m. at Menomonee Falls High School. The event will include a ceremony, concert and meet-and-greet; the public is invited.
Rossmiller, a 2002 graduate, is a music educator and accomplished trumpeter. She has taught in public schools for the last 12 years, and has experience teaching students of all levels in general music and instrumental music classes in the St. Paul and Glencoe-Silver Lake Public Schools in Minnesota. She currently teaches fifth- and sixth-grade band in the Hopkins School District in Hopkins, Minnesota.
Rossmiller has played trumpet with the Minnesota Wind Ensemble, University of Minnesota Brass Choir and many small ensemble groups throughout the Minneapolis area. She holds a bachelor's degree in trumpet performance and music education from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and is pursuing a master's degree in education technology from Concordia University St. Paul.
Rossmiller is also a longstanding member of the Minnesota Band Directors Association (MBDA) and the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA). She continues annually to be involved in school committees and was featured in a fall 2016 article in the Schmidt Music magazine Spotlight titled "Teachers Who Make A Difference."
Rossmiller also coaches for MBDA honor bands, mentors colleagues and helps with technology incorporation in the instrumental music classroom. She continues to train as an AVID teacher (Advancement Via Individual Determination, a group that works to train educators to help close the opportunity gap) and to be a cuturally and linguistically responsive teacher.
Bocek, a 1972 graduate, is a 2016 recipient of the Greater Menomonee Falls Foundation's "Shining Star" award. As a past recipient of the Waukesha Arts Alliance Artistic Achievement Award, the Opera Theatre Award for Set and Costume Design and as a member of the American Costumers Guild, his work has been seen in many area theatres. They include The Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Great Lakes Opera, the Milwaukee Opera, Skylight Opera, Sunset Playhouse, Waukesha Civic and others. Bochek is also a member of both the Wisconsin Association of Community Theatres and the American Association of Community Theatres.
Hacker, a 2003 graduate, is a highly sought after adjudicator, clinician, conductor and performer. He is the director for instrumental music at Hartford Union High School. Most notably, the high school ensembles performed in London for the 2018 London New Year's Day Parade and Gala Festival. Before teaching at Hartford, Hacker taught in the Waukesha School District and the Waukesha Catholic School System.
Hacker began playing tuba at North Middle School in the Menomonee Falls School District. He is an active musician, frequently performing the tuba, bass trombone and euphonium with a range of ensembles.
He serves on the executive board of The Youth Wind Orchestra of Wisconsin and conducts the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra Wind Ensemble.
He also plays an active role in Midwest folk wind music, having founded the 18-piece European-style wind ensemble Blaskapelle Milwaukee, of which he is the musical director.
Hacker has been recognized twice by the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame , and has been inducted into the Hall for the Youth Achievement Award and Youth Mentor Award. He was named in 2015 as the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee's Teacher of the Year.
Hacker holds a bachelor's degree in music education from Carroll University and a master's degree in educational leadership from Cardinal Stritch University. He is pursuing a doctor of musical arts (DMA) degree in music education from Boston University and is a member of the National Association for Music Education and the Association of American Educators.