The Battlin’ Bear Band has hired a new assistant director, Jesse Winecoff, to work with the percussion students. Although this is his first teaching job, he has already made a positive impact on his students.
“Mr. Winecoff is a great director,” junior drum line captain Ethan Martin said. “He not only helps us improve with our technique and skill level, but he makes it fun, too.”
Prior to starting his job at LCM, Winecoff helped out with a number of bands in North Carolina, student taught at a middle school, and taught private percussion lessons. While he had never heard of LCM, he always knew he wanted to teach in Texas.
“There are some really good bands in this state and LCM is one of them,” Winecoff said.
Winecoff has an extensive amount of experience in music dating back to the age of six when he decided he wanted to do something with music in his life. Two of his biggest role models were his mother, who was a teacher, and his middle school band director. In high school and college he fell in love with all the aspects of band – marching at games and competitions, the music, and the friends he made because of band.
“To sum it all up, I wanted to become a band director so I could share the great experiences I had with others, ” Winecoff said.
Winecoff played in bands all throughout middle school, high school, college, and graduate school.
“I played in everything I could; marching band, concert band, percussion ensemble, steel drum band, symphony orchestra, and also playing a number of bands from rock all the way to folk music,” Winecoff said.
Once Winecoff decided he wanted to become a band director, he received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Appalacian State University in Boone, North Carolina. He then moved to Wyoming and got a master’s degree in percussion performance from the University of Wyoming.
“Moving across the country twice and getting settled in Orange has been the biggest challenge,” Winecoff said, “I’m constantly trying to think of how I can teach better, which is a lot to think about.”
Winecoff starts out everyday at Little Cypress Junior High. There he teaches the beginning flute and oboe classes, he then goes to the high school to teach the percussion, after that he goes back to LCJH and teaches the concert band, beginning low brass, and beginning percussion classes. After a long day of teaching, he heads back to the high school for marching rehearsal.
“This is a great place to be. The band is loads of fun to work with and the students are great,” Winecoff said, “I look forward to coming to school every day.”
Outside of working with the bands Winecoff has many hobbies. He loves watching Star Trek, going on hikes, backpacking, road tripping, snowshoeing, and also fly fishing.
“Another big passion of mine is long-distance cycling,” Winecoff said, “I’ve ridden a century (100 miles) and four half-centuries.”
Winecoff’s hope for all of his students is not only to be as good as they can right now, but to set up a good foundation to grow on in the future when making runs for state and accomplishing other goals.
“I also hope to get my students as interested in music as possible,” Winecoff said, “So that even if they choose not to continue they will always remember the times they had while in band.”