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Courtesy photo New Kingston High School Band Director Lance Reisetter said, ““The band has a history in excellence,” and plans to continue that excellence. The Kingston Band has won multiple awards in the past, he plans on adding to those awards.
The Kingston High School Band will be following a new lead once the 2019/2020 school year begins on August 8. Lance Reisetter is the new Kingston Band Director.
An Oklahoma native, Reisetter graduated from Ardmore High School in 2013 and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Instrumental Music Education from East Central University in December 2018. He is currently working towards a masters in education from ECU.
The new band director is anxious to get started on goals that were set by the students for the school year.
“The band has a history in excellence,” Reisetter said while discussing the multiple trophies placed on shelves around the room. “The band has a sweepstakes plaque, it may be from 2006, but it is not easy to achieve.”
To receive a sweepstakes, a band must receive superior at regional, district, advance to state and receive superior at state.
Even though Reisetter is a recent college graduate, he still has extensive experience in music education. He spent two years in the Drums Corps and said it helped ‘gear him towards’ marching band. He has been a member of every ensemble at ECU and was the trumpet leader.
Reisetter said he believes his young age will neither be an advantage nor a disadvantage. “My only disadvantage is the older teachers have more experience,” said Reisetter.
He expressed he is not inexperienced, just does not have the age behind him. He said he believes his freshness will be a positive aspect.
“I am fresh out of college and I have the drive and determination to make an impact on my students,” he added.
Reisetter said his band instructors had such an impact on him; it is what pushed him to continue in music. “I want to see what my students can do with the right push.”
“I’m not here to make them the best performers possible,” Reisetter continued. “I’m here to give them the tools to make themselves the best performers possible. That’s the end goal.”
He does not think the small age gap will be an issue. “I think they’ll get the idea pretty quick,” said Reisetter. “There is a fine line between teacher and mentor, and it is important to have a line and not cross it.”
Although there is almost always a student who tries to befriend every teacher, Reisetter is adamant about not accepting friend requests from his students. He said he may have a student or two from when he was a trumpet instructor, but he tries to weed them out.
He fought with the idea of adding parents on social media but relented. “Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are huge platforms where I get the information about the band out,” said Reisetter.
Reisetter’s goal for his students is to “enjoy their time in band and be proud of what they’ve done. To make the program bigger and get more students involved in the arts — not just band, in the arts in general.”
The new band director is guesstimating a good sized band for this year, saying, “The enrollment could possibly be 80 or more. There is a big class that is coming to eighth grade from the seventh.”
Reisetter said he is ready to lead a big group — he was a student teacher for the Durant High School Marching Band with 165 members. He also said he is excited to collaborate with the new assistant band director, Andy Ward.
He said she is an alum of Southeastern Oklahoma State University and is anxious to see what they can bring to the table as a team.