After beloved band director Mr. McEniry’s retirement, everyone is incredibly excited to welcome new teacher, Mr. Sam Bills, to MCHS. This is Mr. Bills’ first teaching job, and every band student feels lucky to have him. In his own words, “It’s all been going very well. There have been a few growing pains going into my first teaching job, but I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed getting to teach more with Jazz Band and Concert Band coming up; it’s been fun. It’s a little nerve wracking to try to live up to the tradition of this town, to think I’m following in the footsteps of such a good band director, that I’m working with such a good band director, but also it’s time for me to make my mark and to see what I can bring to the table. I’m very excited to be here and I’m very fortunate my first teaching job is at a school of this caliber.”
Mr. Bills will be instructing the Concert Band once marching season ends, and he is currently working on conducting the entire band for one of the pieces that will be played at the Band Extravaganza this Monday the 23rd. The Band Extravaganza is at 7:30 pm right here in the MCHS Gymnasium, an event everyone should be sure not to miss. Although most of the band students haven’t had much interaction with him yet, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say everyone has really been enjoying working with him thus far, and vice versa. Being a high school band director has always been a dream of his, and the band is glad he could fulfill this dream here at MCHS. In his words, “I’ve wanted to be a band teacher since I was a sophomore in high school. I had a really great band director there. I used to go the bed the night before Jazz Band rehearsal, so excited for rehearsal the next day that I couldn’t sleep. Band provided a place for me to really excel, earn leadership positions, and be good at something. It’s all I ever wanted to do from that point on, to be able to create that environment that was created for me.”