Band teacher is praised for her excellence

At first, Heather Christensen was Melodie Livingston's boss, leading Riverton High School's band when Livingston became the school's color guard director in 2002.

Soon, they were best friends.

Through tears and smiles Sunday, Livingston made it clear that her dear friend was already a hero long before she grabbed the steering wheel of an out-of-control bus near McCammon, Idaho, Saturday night.

Christensen, 33, was killed when the bus, carrying members of the American Fork High School marching band, crashed on I-15 as they returned from a competition at Idaho State University in Pocatello. The bus driver apparently momentarily blacked out, prompting Christensen to act.

Two students were taken to hospitals by helicopter, though police said their injuries were not life-threatening. Other students were taken to Portneuf West Medical Center with minor injuries.

Instructing the band's woodwind section was just one of the many hats Christensen wore. She put in 18-hour days, leading numerous music and fine arts programs in Utah County and working to build her pupils' self-confidence through performance.

"She liked seeing her kids succeed," Livingston said. "She took a lot of satisfaction and pride out of that."

Christensen lived in the basement of Livingston's Richards Street home in Salt Lake City for the past year and a half as she saved up to buy a home in American Fork. The two would stay up late drinking hot cocoa, telling jokes and discussing the Wasatch Academy, the pair's color guard class for little girls in American Fork.

Livingston said a parent of a child taught by Christensen called her and spoke of a recent class where she was sitting in a circle with her kids, laughing and playing. And that just about summed it up.

"She made her classes a really positive environment for her students," Livingston said. "That's why everyone loved her so much, and it's one of the reasons I really admired her."

She plans to set up a college scholarship fund for music students in Christensen's name.

According to Scott Hagen, director of bands at the University of Utah, the 1998 U. marching band was the best he ever directed, thanks largely to Christensen.

The band's drum major for two years, she was "one of the finest students I've ever had the opportunity to work with," Hagen said Sunday.

Having chatted with her just two weeks ago, Hagen was shocked to hear of Christensen's death, which he was sure would reverberate across the area.

"The whole music community in Utah, it's a small community," he said. "This is just a tragic loss, it really is."