Excellence Without Excuses: A Music Teacher’s Odyssey

How did a group of Washington, DC high school singers overcome the challenge of preparing and participating in a prestigious international classical music competition in Vienna, Austria? This memoir follows the life and 30-year DC Public Schools career of honored educator Joyce Garrett who founded the "Excellence Without Excuses" program, using choral music to teach the values of perseverance, self-discipline, teamwork, loyalty, high achievement, and higher education. This book chronicles how she inspired her students to reach beyond their immediate grasps, lead purposeful lives, and fulfill their dreams. Many students did not understand basic values like: dependability, punctuality, loyalty, self-control, and high achievement. If they made a commitment and ran into a problem, they would not re-group. Singers often gave up without considering Plan B or Plan C. Garrett used the after-school "Excellence Without Excuses" program as an incubator to provide an alternate environment to change the way her students experienced the world. By the mid 1990s, she recognized a shift in attitudes. Students began to see high achievement and going to college in a positive light. The transformation was happening before everyone's eyes. It seemed like a miracle!