A new addition to the band
February 1, 2010 • Anna Shippy, Online Reporter
Filed under News
The everyday stress of organizing music and preparing for concerts can be a handful. The HHS band now has a new face to help relieve some of that stress.
FHSU student Austin Barnes has stepped up to help out the band this semester as a student teacher. Barnes has much band experience, as he started to play the drums when he was in fifth grade and began playing guitar when he was a senior.
He grew up in Salina and attended a 3A school, Southeast Saline. Now, as a student at Fort Hays, he plays in its pep band, the Jazz One, the Jazz Two, and their wind and percussion ensembles.
Barnes said he has always had a great love for music, but also a love for sports. When the time came for him to go to college, he had a hard choice to make.
“I thought it might be fun to play NAIA sports at a small college, but I also really wanted to do something with music,” Barnes said. “After thinking it over, I decided that music would be the right way to go because it would last me a lot longer than being an athlete would.”
Barnes had other reasons for choosing to major in music.
“My high school band teacher was great,” Barnes said. “He really inspired me.”
After talking about his major for a while, Barnes said why he decided to student teach at Hays High.
“Hays High has an excellent band program and Craig Manteuffel has a great reputation as a director,” Barnes said. “I also thought it may be best not to move out in the middle of the semester, so Hays seemed like the right place to go.”
Barnes is certified to teach K-12th grade music. He hopes to first get a job as an elementary school music teacher and then later move on to direct high school band.
After his student teaching in Hays is over this semester, he plans to move to Manhattan and attend Kansas State University to receive his Master’s Degree in music education.
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