Gyeonggi Province employees visit 2ID Band

By Jim CunninghamDecember 2, 2009

Gyeonggi Province employees visit 2ID Band
Elliot Chodkowski (white shirt at the keyboard) and the 2nd Infantry Division Band jazz sextet perform for more than a dozen employees of the Gyeonggi Provincial government. The employees are students of English taught by Chodkowski throughout the ye... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

RED CLOUD GARRISON - More than a dozen employees from the governor's office in Uijeongbu came to visit the 2nd Infantry Division Band Nov. 24 on Red Cloud for a special concert given by the band's jazz sextet. After the concert, the guests visited the chapel for a briefing from the chaplain's assistant, followed by a dinner in Mitchell's Club.

A special relationship exists between these employees at Gyeonggi Province and the 2ID Band because the band's keyboard player is the Province's employee's English instructor. Spc. Elliot Chodkowski volunteers to teach English to a class of more than 20 employees every week and does so in a special classroom in the provincial office building throughout the year. Many of the students want to know more about Chodkowski's duties with the band and more about an American Soldier's life on Red Cloud.

"I wanted to do something on the holidays for the class," Chodkowski said. "I am going home for Christmas leave, so we are going to shut classes down for six weeks."

It would be impossible for the band to perform for the employees in the classroom, so Chodkowski invited them to come to USAG-Red Cloud.

"I invited the class to come to Red Cloud as a field trip for them to enhance their experience with the English language," he said. "The 2ID Band has the most visibility with the Korean community outside post, so almost everything we do will get a thumbs up from the Army."

The sextet played six holiday standards and some special jazz selections.

"We featured our vocalist and played some traditional jazz standards," Chodkowski said. "After the concert we had dinner in Mitchell's Club. I'm glad the 2ID Band has had a long standing relationship with the employees at Gyeonggi Province. I am the third English teacher from the band and one day I will move on and someone else will take up the job of teaching English there."