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John Pollard (North Richland Hills, TX) is Senior Director of Education for the International Gemological Institute (IGI), expanding the institute’s educational initiatives and diploma programs, taught in seven countries around the world, and providing seminars, workshops, and master classes for IGI clients in all sectors, including leading luxury brands. He is an announcer for Bands of America Championships, the Texas UIL State Marching Championships, and the Music for All Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival. He is a continuing Yamaha consultant and serves on the Board Of Directors for Music for All. From 1997 to 2005, Pollard was a band director at L.D. Bell High School in Texas. A two-time winner of the district’s Education Foundation Award of Excellence, he instructed two-time Texas UIL State Marching Champions, PAS National Drumline Champions, Sudler Shield of Honor recipients, and 25-time medalists at BOA Regional, Super Regional, and Grand Nationals. Pollard’s percussion ensembles have performed at PASIC, The Midwest Clinic, and TMEA and TBA conventions. He has instructed at MFA National Festival, Summer Camp, Honor Bands, and the inaugural BOA Tournament of Roses Band in 2005. He chaired the UIL Percussion Music Committee, was a TMEA All-State Music Selector, an organizer for PASIC 2000, and assisted with MTV’s Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. In 2005, John began his career as a professional gemologist. He has held management roles in several sectors, presenting seminars at the American Gem Society Conclave in Washington D.C., JCK Las Vegas, the Women’s Jewelry Association, Gemological Institute of America Alumni Association, and international conferences in Antwerp, Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai, and Hong Kong. He is published in Gem-A, the Journal of Gemmology.