There are many teachers who are good at what they do, but there are not as many who are as experienced in their field as Doug Fischer.
Fischer graduated from Cal State Long Beach with in 1982 with a bachelor’s and in 1999 with a master’s degree, both in music.
Aside from studying music, Fischer played trombone in the Big Brown Music Machine, the university’s once-famed marching band. He fondly remembered the marching band trip to Scotland in 1980, where the band performed for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo band festival. The marching band performed during LBSU football games, and had the opportunity to perform at the 1978 World Series during Fischer’s time in the band.
Additionally, Fischer was a member of the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity. He recounted what he and 13 other new members of the fraternity did at a football game.
“We made a giant banner out of 14 brown bed sheets and wrote ‘Phi Mu Alpha and the band want a touchdown,'” Fischer said.
Fischer, who wanted to be a band director since he was in middle school, began his musical career in the fall of 1986 at Paramount High School as the band and orchestra director. From there, Fischer went on to be the band director at Gahr High School of Cerritos in 1986 and at Tustin High School in 1990.
Fischer is currently the band and orchestra director at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin.
“It was more of a ‘dad move’ than a career move,” he said of the transition from a high school band director to a middle school band director. “I needed to spend more time with my family; a middle school band has less activities and less competition.”
Pioneer Middle School opened in the fall of 1999, and Fischer has been there since its opening.
“It was an opportunity to start a [music] program from scratch,” he said. “Everything was new – new furniture, new equipment and new instruments.”
While Fischer’s transition from a high school to a middle school was more of a “dad move,” his efforts with Pioneer’s music program did not go unnoticed. Fischer was named the Tustin Unified School District middle school teacher of the year in 2004 and was recognized at a banquet sponsored by the Tustin Public Schools Foundation.
“It was very flattering; I work with many great colleagues and a lot of people usually overlook the music department,” Fischer said. “It was amazing to be chosen.”
At Pioneer Middle School, Fischer continues to enrich his students’ lives with the subject he loves the most: music.
Doug Fischer
Age: 49
Hometown: Garden Grove, Calif.
Year Graduated: 1982 (B.A.), 1999 (M.A.)
Major: Music
Hobbies: Fishing, camping, traveling, collecting die-cast metal cars
