Geoff Folsom / SpokesmanRidegeview band instructor Dave Sime talks to his class May 25.

Ridgeview High School’s band has finished first or second in state competition each year since the school opened. In 2015, the band performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

But that’s not what drives Dave Sime, the school’s music instructor.

“We have been incredibly successful, but that’s not my particular measuring stick,” Sime said. “If students can walk off the stage feeling like they’ve given their all, then nobody’s evaluation of how they played should change that.”

Sime, 57, plans to walk off the stage for the final time Thursday, retiring after a more than 30-year career. Sime spent three years at Obsidian Middle School before moving to Redmond High School, where he led the band for 26 years. He came to Ridgeview when the school opened in 2012.

In that time, Sime taught thousands of students, leaving an impression on each of them.

“He’s a positive influence on everybody,” said Ridgeview sophomore flute player Erin Smallwood, 15. “He makes it worth going to school. If somebody’s having a rough day, he goes out of his way to make sure they’re OK.”

That even goes for students who aren’t in band.

“Even if he is just passing a kid in the hall, he’ll say, ‘Hi, how are you?’” Erin said. “He’s a positive ray of sunshine.”

Sime, who moved around in a military family, became interested in music at a young age, playing the piano early on and taking up the trumpet in fourth grade. He said both his parents were amateur musicians, and his brother and three sisters all played instruments.

“It wasn’t a question of whether we are going to be in band, it was what instrument are you going to play?” he said.

Sime began experimenting with a variety of instruments with his brother in high school.

“That was kind of eye-opening for me, how different instruments relate to one another, and how logical fingering systems are,” he said.

By his junior year in high school, Sime knew he wanted to be a music teacher. He left Hawaii, where his father was stationed, to attend Willamette University in Salem. There, he met his wife, a Redmond native.

“Obviously, I fell in love with the country and knew this is where we wanted to end up,” he said.

After stops in Ione, where 32 students attended the school, and Lakeview, Sime made it to Redmond.

Over the years, Sime taught students not just how to play songs, but to understand them. Before the band practiced one of the songs for its upcoming performance, the 90 students learned about the ordeals hymnist Horatio Spafford went through to inspire the piece.

“Each song we play tells a story,” he said. “By knowing the backstory, it helps us experience the emotions even better.”

And if the song doesn’t have a story, they’ll make one up, even if it’s just saying it’s about a party, Sime said.

Sime has kept ahead by reinventing the way he teaches every couple of years, he said. He adapts to students’ needs while becoming more meticulous.

If a student is unable to play a piece in rehearsal, Sime feels like he hasn’t taught it properly. So he said he has a “bag of tricks” that allows him to explain a lesson in several different ways.

“That just comes with experience,” he said.

The final concert will feature performances by Ridgeview’s jazz band, symphonic band and wind ensemble. Yearly awards also will be presented. Sime said it will be different from any previous performance because the focus will be on him. He has always tried to praise the students after success and take the blame if something goes wrong.

Sime decided to retire largely for personal reasons, he said. He still enjoys the job.

“The students are still great,” he said. “I love coming to work every day. There’s never been a day I’ve regretted coming to work.”

Sime expects Ridgeview’s band program to continue to do well. He said candidates to replace him were visiting the school this week for interviews and to practice with the students to see how they work together.

“The student piece is very important, because there has to be that chemistry,” he said.

The band, which recently finished second at the state Class 5A competition in Corvallis, should grow further, Sime said.

“The band, next year, could be as good or better than this year,” he said.

Students will still miss Sime.

“He taught us to be very critical of ourselves but very humble,” said senior French horn player Madison Jocelyn, 18. “He taught us that, no matter how many victories we have, we are humble.”

Madison plans to minor in music at the University of Oregon, where she will also try out for the band.

Erin plans to approach the new teacher with an open mind, because that’s what Sime wants, she said. But she will always carry forward the lessons learned from Sime, whom she calls the most influential person in her life.

“Be sure to approach people with an open mind,” Erin recalled her teacher saying. “Know that you can do things, not just fake your way through it. Always have that perseverance.”

Sime, wearing shorts and a Hawaiian-style shirt featuring musical instruments because of a Ridgeview spirit day, hopes the students stay involved with music.

“It’s an activity you can do for your lifetime,” he said. “You can do any sport you want to and still do music. I say to my students, ‘I know a lot of 70-year-old musicians. I don’t know any 70-year-old football players.’”

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com