Mr. Jim DeCaro is in his 27th year of teaching and his 5th year at Belzer Middle School. He was born in San Diego and moved to a suburb of Philadelphia when he was 9. He has both his Bachelors of Music Education and Masters of Music in Performance degrees from Indiana University. He formely taught bands in Bloomington and Ellettsville Indiana.
His bands have received consistent Gold Ratings and With Distinction awards from ISSMA Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble Contests. His bands have performed and won competitions in St. Louis, Nashville, and Cincinnati, and at Eastern Illinois University, Purdue University, and the Mattoon Jazz Festival. In 2002, his concert band performed at the International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. His bands have also performed at the Indiana State Music Convention in 2002, 2005, and 2007. In 2003 he accompanied the Bloomington North High School Band and served as their assistant director on a 6 country European Tour.
Mr. DeCaro has been married to his wife Cheryl for 27 years. She works at Pro Vision Companies. They have two children; James who is 24, married and working as a band director in Stillwater Minnesota, and Julie 22 who is a senior Music Business Major at Western Illinois University.
Michael Payne is currently in his 1st year as a teacher and also his first year at Belzer, after taking over for Mrs. Lisa Dure while she enjoys time with her new baby boy, Robert Addison. Before moving to Indiana, Michael lived in Lexington, KY where he attended Lafayette High School. While at Lafayette, the marching band won four state championships and particpated in the 2002 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Michael attended the University of Kentucky and earned his Bachelors of Music in Music Education in the spring of 2007. While in college, Michael was active in several ensembles, including the UK Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Mega-Sax Quartet, and the UK Saxophone Quartet. He was also a four-year member of the Wildcat Marching Band and the UK Pep Band, where he served as Drum Major in 2005 and 2006. Michael was also an arranger for the pep band.
Michael did his student teaching in Paris, KY and has taught marching bands in both Kentucky and Indiana for several years, including two BOA National Finalists. During the summer of 2005, Michael traveled the country performing with the Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps on mellophone. While there, he met his wife, Sarah Milazzo-Payne, who is currently the Orchestra Director at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis. Sarah and Michael own a house in Lawrence Township and have two cats - Mai Tai and Kitty. Michael is an alumni member of the Alpha Gamma chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Fraternity.