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![English teacher Colleen Lamb grades College Prep English assignments during period two Nov. 10. Lamb, who has been teaching for 27 years, decorates her classroom with posters and handmade college flags from her senior students. Everything I enjoy about English happens primarily in the classroom, Lamb said. So, thankfully, the college [I worked at] had a teaching program, and I was able to do my post-grad work for free while I was working [there].”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1158-1200x900.jpeg)
Brown lockers filled with instruments, sheet music and cases lead down the performing arts hallway.
Before school, students sit along the walls and socialize. Then, the first bell rings.
Kids shuffle into room 300, the home of the band family, as the symphonic band starts. They play their scales and are led by their Band Director Trevor McLaine, a first-year teacher, to play their music.
“I really liked the experience I had when I was in high school band and it became a no-brainer for me to become a band director,” McLaine said. “I graduated from grad school at Florida State University and I didn’t want to do anything on the East Coast.”
McLaine applied for jobs out west, but ultimately decided on Colorado once he met the students.
“I applied to a bunch of different states, but when I interviewed here and met the students, I realized it was a space I could call home, and I could make something really special,” McLaine said.
His music journey started when he was young, and it continues every day.
“[The first instrument I played was] saxophone, specifically alto, but I learned to play all of them,” McLaine said.
McLaine started playing in sixth grade, and now he brings his knowledge to the students he works with.
“I’m a woodwind guy, although a good brass choir is one of the best things you can hear,” McLaine said.
McLaine is passionate about music and decided to work in a place where he could share that passion with students, making sure he pushes them to be the best they can be.
“[I had Mr. McLaine for] colorguard,” Ella West ‘26 said. “He pushes us in practice.”
McLaine believes that young people have lots of potential. He says that they need someone to bring that out, which is why he pushes his students.
