Cadence Trimble

Band students show their KHS Band pride by showing off the new band shirts.

THE BAND IS BACK! New faces have been added to our campus this year. Two of these new additions to our school are the new KHS Band directors Mr. John Gaertner and Mr. Gavin Clarke. 

“They’re the directors that saved us and are keeping the band together,” Drum Major Sandy Rodriguez said.

These directors are currently adding some new changes not only to the band but also to the community.

“We are working hard from our 6th-grade band on up, to provide a better foundation for our students with more effective rehearsal strategies using all the staff available,” Gaertner said.

 “We’re also going to be working on providing the best equipment possible for our students so that they can have every advantage to be as successful as possible,” Gaertner said.

Before Kilgore, Gaertner taught at the Whitehouse ISD in Whitehouse, Texas for fourteen years. He started as the sixth-grade coordinator and then was moved up to the head of the junior high band.

“He had multiple sweepstakes with the eighth-grade top group and worked with the directors of the other three bands to ensure their success as well,” proud wife and theatre teacher Catherine Gaertner said.

Working in Kilgore has been a transition that was worth it.

“I am absolutely honored to have been offered the position of head band director of Kilgore ISD,” Gaertner said. “I knew, as soon as the job was offered, that I was called to be here.  I loved my students in Whitehouse, and I hated to leave them, but I am already getting to know so many students here in Kilgore, and I know my life will be blessed by them.”

The KHS Band debuted at the community Watermelon Fest on August 10. The band will have their third performance this Friday, September 1 at the Kilgore High School pep rally, and perform during the halftime show for the second football game of the season.

Their musical selection includes “Evil Ways”, “KB Fanfare”, and “Peacemaker March.” The KHS Band also created new T-shirts to showcase that “The Band Is Back!”

Head to R.E. St. John and support the Band as they build with a new director.