PORT ANGELES — When the Port Angeles School District hired Ron Jones in 1975, he was told the 16-student high school program needed to grow or it would be cut.
“I went after it the best and only way I knew how, which was to do my own dog-and-pony show,” said Jones, who grew the program to 10 times the size it was when he first started. “And it worked.”
Jones — who now sees more than 160 high school string students every day — is planning to retire at the end of this school year, marking the end of his 42-year tenure with the school district.
The PASD board approved his resignation at its April 27 meeting.
Assistant Superintendent Chuck Lisk called Jones’ retirement a “sad day” for the school district.
“Ron Jones’ retirement will be a loss for our school district and community,” Lisk said. “To have a program that is at the level Port Angeles is at … is a testament to his abilities.”
Lisk said that though Jones left big shoes to fill, he believes there are outstanding candidates for the position already teaching in the district.
“Ron Jones has inspired hundreds and hundreds of kids in his career,” Lisk said. “He’s done a great job and will be missed.”
Among those students is Nola Grier, who was a junior in the Port Angeles High orchestra when Jones first started the job.
She said that right at the beginning, Jones brought new life to the orchestra by taking the group to the Northwest Orchestra Festival to see what other students their age were doing.
“That was something we had never done before,” she said. “It was totally different and a step up from what we were used to. There was no goofing around anymore.”
Grier realized during that trip that Jones had a long-term vision of what the orchestra could be.
Among Jones’ most memorable moments of his career was the fear and anxiety he felt before the high school’s first performance in Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1989.
“That’s where Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, the Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald and Benny Goodman — all of the greats — performed, and we were going to be on that stage,” Jones said. “That just scared me to death. But then the adrenaline rush after was just crazy.”
In all, he and the high school orchestra students have performed at Carnegie Hall eight times, the most recent of which was last month.
He made it a point to take the high school students to Carnegie Hall every four years.
Jones has led the high school orchestras to nine top-three trophies at the state music championships since 1998, more than 30 top placements at the Northwest Orchestra Festival since 1989 and nine trophies at the Western Washington University State Orchestra Festival since it began in 2015.
The chamber orchestra was one of nine international orchestras invited to perform at the 68th Midwest Clinic in 2002, the first Washington orchestra ever selected.
He has also earned a number of awards for his dedication as a music teacher.
Jones said earlier this year he credits other string teachers in the district for getting students excited about music at an early age.
He said he and the high school choir and band directors over the years have always seen themselves as the Three Musketeers, doing what they could to help each other’s programs.
Jones is now preparing for final performances with string students before he puts away his baton.
Among them is the 41st annual All-City String Review this Thursday, which will feature more than 600 PASD string students in the same night.
The 6 p.m. “West” concert will feature students from Dry Creek, Hamilton and Jefferson elementary schools, and about half of middle school and high school string students in grades 7-11.
The 7:15 p.m. “East” concert will feature Franklin and Roosevelt schools and the other half of grades 7-11 students.
Seniors will perform and be honored. The free concert is open to the community.
When Jones started the tradition, there were about 200 or 250 students, he said. In 2015, the event was split into two because Jones couldn’t fit all 600 string students into the PAHS gym anymore.
“There are a lot of people in the community who just come because it’s such a cool thing to see that many students doing something positive,” Jones said.
His last orchestra concert will be at 7:30 p.m. June 7 at the PAHS auditorium.
The annual dinner show is set for 7 p.m. June 9 and 10 at the PAHS cafeteria. It will feature the high school band, choir and orchestra.
“It’s been a real joy. I know I’m going to miss it, but I know it’s time to move aside and allow that next chapter to take its course,” Jones said.
“I know the community will continue to support the program and take it on into the rest of this century.”
He hopes the high school will eventually have a “good” rehearsal facility that can accommodate all the string students.
Kim Ortloff is asking other alumni to join the Ron Jones Retirement Celebration Reunion group on Facebook.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
Longtime Port Angeles orchestra teacher Ron Jones conducts the Port Angeles High School chamber orchestra Monday. Jones will retire at the end of this school year. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)
