Someone once told me that if a student walked out learning something new, no matter how small, then I'm doing a good job as a teacher. I think about it a lot now and often look back to where my students were years ago. I remind them a lot about the differences so that they can see the changes better too.

You could always do festivals, too. Those tend to always have trophies for every band, so even if you don't get high marks you would still have something.