EHS Pillars - Fall 2018

Charles Estes
On November 15, the EHS community lost a great teacher, mentor, and colleague—Charles Estes. When students
performed and read tributes to him at his Benitez Chapel memorial service, it became clear that more than music
was created each day in the Band Hall. The students—a mix of his advisory members and musicians–eulogized
his friendship, character, wicked sense of humor, and care for the individual.
(Excerpts below from the memorial tribute)
"Although I’m just a sophomore this year, I knew Mr. Estes the entire time he was at EHS. In those three
years, he taught me not only how to be a better musician but also how to laugh on bad days and how to
make a joke out of anything. Mr. Estes taught me how to always look on the bright side by using a bit of
sarcasm and a lot of terrible jokes. He was the best band director I ever had and, frankly, I couldn’t ask for
a better mentor or friend than the man who taught me to be a better person."
"Mr. Estes took the time out of his very busy life to personally arrange the song that I wanted to play,
and I don’t know if everyone knows how band stuff works, but I don’t know of any other band director
that would do something like that for his students. At the time, though, it didn’t even phase me, because
that’s how Mr. Estes always was: He was just such a great guy and cared so much about his students."
"Mr. Estes was an incredible man and the greatest advisor I could have asked for. He was funny,
welcoming, thoughtful, genuine, and kind. ...He was great because of the little things he did for his
advisory: being genuinely interested in what we had to say, telling us stories about his kids, giving us a
relaxing environment that I looked forward to every Tuesday, and being a mentor and guide for us. I can’t
even begin to imagine life at EHS without him. Our advisory will never be the same without him. I will
never forget all he’s done for me and I am so thankful I got to be in his advisory."
"Every single day after every single class I say thank you to the caring teacher who shared knowledge
with me and put up with my consistent distractions, and every single day after every single class I mean
it. After I said it to Mr. Estes he looked back at me and with a very dramatic tone, he said,
'No, thank you.'"
"Over the summer, I decided that I would be president in 2036. Most people who I shared that with
wouldn’t take me seriously because, honestly, it is kind of a crazy dream. The reactions never really
bothered me because I knew how absurd it sounded to hear a junior in high school declare that they’ll be
running the country in 18 years, but when I talked about it with Mr. Estes, he said, 'I know you can do it.'
Now it might seem like just a nice comment, but to me, it meant the world.
Someone who I looked up to believed in me."
Thank you, Mr. Charles Estes.
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