"My name is Jeff Turner, Band Director at Cleveland High School in Blount County, Alabama.  My school is small and we have only fifty-four total band members.  I began teaching in 1999 after seven years of college.  Nothing I learned in college would prepare me for what I was about to be introduced to.

I was introduced to a young man that had no legs and a strong desire to march with the band.  He was born into this world with a sickness known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.  His legs never developed and he was a sick baby for a while.  He is in the ninth grade now and you would not even know he had a problem.  He carries himself very well and accepts his handicap with no regrets.  He is exciting and encouraging to be around.  He is a talented musician and loves to entertain.  He has a long list of instruments he can play.  Nothing seems to stop him.

The hard part for me was to figure out how I was going to get him on the field to march with the rest of the band.  The first year he played auxiliary percussion equipment in the pit.  He walks on his hands and it would be difficult for him to carry an instrument.  This year I finally found a solution.  I took a saxophone strap and a tambourine and hooked them together and hung it around his neck.  He would let it hang as he marched with the percussion section and would play it when they stopped on the field.

Danny never ceases to amaze me at how he doesn't let his handicap limit him.  He sets high goals for himself and always seems to reach them or continues to try.  He has taught me a valuable lesson also.  That regardless of the physical handicap, your mind is your only limit.

I will never forget these early years of teaching and the remarkable young man that taught me and my students to never let our environment or physical handicaps limit us to all the goals we set for ourselves."

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