Christian Peterson
Reporter@riverbendnews.org
After some instability in the position, Suwannee High School (SHS) has found itself a new, official band director, Clayton McPeak. McPeak was born in 1988 in the State of Tennessee. He graduated from high school in 2006 and began the long trek through college. He started at Florida College, where he graduated in 2008 with an Associate in Arts Degree. He quickly returned and, two years later, in 2010, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Music. He also began the process of earning his Master’s in Music Performance, but found a love for music in a different way.
McPeak began teaching at Foundation Christian Academy and found a new way to show his love for music there. He greatly enjoyed working with the kids and remained there for five years. Eventually, life continued, and McPeak moved to Fort White High School, where he taught for another five years, this time as a math instructor. However, when the opportunities arose, he always took the time to help the band and, for two years, he had the joy of teaching beginning band. Finally, he made his most recent move to SHS for the 2022-2023 school year. McPeak is very excited to start a new year with new students. He sees SHS as an undiscovered gold mine, with the amount of potential he sees in the students.
“I believe SHS can be a top program across Florida,” McPeak said. He expects a lot of growth over the next 10 years and expects to see the band grow very much with the help of current students and alumni. McPeak also hopes to be in contact with all alumni about helping the band and is excited to give the students some stability, as they dealt with instability throughout the last school year. “I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with Suwannee High School's band, the Sound of Suwannee. I have been greeted with positivity by everyone from the district office, school administration and office staff, teachers, custodians, maintenance personnel and especially the students. I am thankful to be working in a community that values the band program and is willing to help. We have already received community support from Suwannee Valley Electric Company, Sports Connection, Little Caesars and Subway. This year's halftime show will be a Motown theme, featuring songs Respect and Ain't No Mountain High Enough. The students are extremely eager to learn the show and perform at a high expectation. I anticipate that we will achieve the students’ goal of Superior at our Marching Band Music Performance Assessments on Saturday, Oct. 29. They are the driving force behind this goal and I am thankful to be able to guide them to that accomplishment,” McPeak said to the paper.