The Galesburg District 205 Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to name the new music wing at Galesburg High School the Sally Rynott Music Wing, honoring the late band director who built the GHS program into one of the most acclaimed in Illinois and left generations of students saying the same thing: she changed my life.
The vote was 7-0.
Several GHS band alumni were in the room for the vote. Deborah Masterson Signorelli, GHS Class of 1978, spoke during public comment on behalf of the group.
“We would like to thank you for the opportunity and your consideration in naming the new music hallway in Sally’s honor, in order to memorialize what she did for the band program at GHS and in the district, and for the legacy of that band program that continues,” Signorelli told the board.
Signorelli credited John Larson and Mary Beth Erffmeyer Shomos with leading the naming effort on behalf of the alumni group.
“This is something that’s kind of been in the back of our mind,” she said. “We still, across several generations, get together. These are people that I want to spend time with. We are all very like-minded from the perspective of dedication — if you’re gonna do something, do it right, and just go for it.”
Board member Luan Statham said Rynott’s influence reached students well beyond the band program.
“I was not in the band, but certainly knew who Sally Rynott was,” Statham said. “As a non-band person, I feel like the school — even if you weren’t in band — felt her influence. I think this is a very well deserved honor.”
Board member Rodney Phelps, who served on the ad hoc committee that reviewed the naming request, said his time on the committee gave him new perspective on Rynott’s legacy.
“I was able to sit with the current band director (Dena Baity) and hear her perspective on how, by doing this, it bolsters the female side of that position,” Phelps said. “Unbeknownst to me, not being a band person, for a long time it was a male figure.”
Phelps said Rynott’s presence was felt throughout the building, not just in the band room.
“I went through Galesburg when Sally Rynott was there — you knew you didn’t mess with Sally Rynott,” he said. “The high school was run very well. And what’s very impressive to me is that it has continued to grow.”
Board President Courtney Rodriguez praised the alumni letters submitted in support of the naming, saying board members rarely get to see the full record behind a recommendation.
“I did read all of the testimonials,” Rodriguez said. “To see people speak highly of somebody like that — we’re doing the right thing, and we’re doing it for the right reasons. My kid is in the choir, and we love the current choir director. It also gives the music teachers more motivation. We are doing the right things, and people appreciate what we do in education today.”
Rynott served as director of bands and coordinator of music education for District 205 from 1968 to 1985. She died in November 2022 at age 84 after a lengthy battle with Lewy Body Dementia.
Superintendent John Asplund said signage would go up on a section of wall at the entrance to the hallway, with a header above the corridor carrying the name. The district will begin referring to the wing by its new name at the start of the next school year.
Monday’s board meeting is available to watch in full on the District 205 YouTube channel.
Read the full background on the naming request, including testimonials from more than 100 band alumni, in WGIL’s preview story published Monday.
