Lakewood Ranch High welcomes new director of bands

For John Wilkerson, it’s all about the little things.

He recalled that during his senior year at Union County High School of Lake Butler, he was stranded on the side of the road, having run out of gas with only had a few dollars in his pockets. 

His band director at the time, Dean Cassels, came to his rescue and brought him enough fuel to get to the gas station. Then he paid to fill Wilkerson’s gas tank. 

Cassels wasn't the only one to help him. Wilkerson remembers the ways in which his agriculture teacher, football coach, pastor and other residents of Lake Butler supported him. It was the little things that helped shape him as a person and eventually as an educator.

As the new director of bands at Lakewood Ranch High School, Wilkerson wants to focus on the little things to help his students and pay it forward. 

“People don’t understand how the little things in life might have a bearing on a student,” Wilkerson said. “Being a teacher, the little things are getting to know my students, getting to understand my students. What little things can I do to help them? Being able to get to know them to the extent they feel comfortable enough to come and talk. I have an open-door policy.”

His goal is to teach his students about music while also preparing them for their futures. 

“I believe in teaching 90% life and 10% music,” Wilkerson said. “A band program is the combination of all these different personalities, all these different backgrounds. As a director, you have to melt all that down into one program. You have to teach students that we’re in it together. For example, it’s getting them to understand you have to get along with this person. You might not agree on everything, but at the end of the day, you’re playing the only universal language around the world and that’s music.”

Wilkerson’s personal musical journey started in fourth grade when he was a percussionist in the school's band Trenton, Florida. 

“I started as a percussionist for one year and then they moved me to tuba because I could hold it,” Wilkerson said with a laugh. 

He continued with the tuba, ultimately becoming an all-state tuba player twice. 

Although he doesn’t perform as much as he did during his school days, Wilkerson said he will still break out a tuba every once in a while to play for his students or at church. 

Throughout his years pursuing his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and then when he played professionally, Wilkerson has found himself in various musical experiences.

Photo by Liz Ramos

The 2023-2024 school year is the start of Wilkerson’s 24th year as a music teacher. 

In 2021 when he was teaching at George Bush High School in Fort Bend County, Texas, he was honored as a Claes Nobel “Educator of Distinction” from the National Society of High School Scholars. In 2019 and 2020 at Ganado High School of Ganado, Texas, the Ganado Education Foundation awarded him the “Educator of Influence” award. 

Wilkerson also has been inducted into the 2010 Inaugural Teal Sound Drum and Bugle Corps Hall of Fame and in 1996 the Florida Collegiate Music Educators National Conference Hall of Fame.

A highlight for him was directing a group that performed as part of the 1996 closing ceremonies of the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. 

“It was amazing marching into the Olympic Stadium and seeing everything,” Wilkerson said. “The marathon was the last event, and as the last Olympian crossed the line, we had the cadets play the Olympic fanfare. Being part of the closing ceremonies and watching how all that went down was a whole different level.”

Whether it was his time marching or leading numerous bugle and drum corps or educating students, he said all his experiences have made him a better teacher.

“You learn from your mistakes. You learn from the good things. It’s a learning process,” he said. “Once you stop learning, you need to get out of education.”

Wilkerson said he lives by a standard in which he’s instilling in his students at Lakewood Ranch High. 

“Perfection is the standard and excellence is the goal,” he said. “The foundational work we use is what we base everything on.”

As band camp continued for the Marching Mustangs July 27, Wilkerson said he’s been using the guidance of Abraham Lincoln to teach his students about the importance of building a strong foundation to achieve success throughout the marching season. He uses Lincoln’s quote “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”

“What that means is if we have a marching competition show that we’re doing, we’re going to spend the bulk of our time working on the foundation and then spend the remaining time actually working on the show because the foundational work already has been laid,” he said.

Throughout his time leading other band programs in Florida and Texas, Wilkerson said he always had his eye on Lakewood Ranch High’s band program. 

He remembered teaching in Arkansas in 2015 when his band went to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and performed with Lakewood Ranch High. He was able to rekindle friendships with the then-Lakewood Ranch High director Ron Lambert and his staff. 

“I’ve always had respect for this program because of the high performing quality of the program,” he said of Lakewood Ranch. “I’m looking forward to continuing the high performing quality of the program. The kids, parents and school are really great. They’ve been very welcoming.”