LSHS Marching Band Mr. Sargent

Mr. Kyle Sargent has been named as the Assistant Band Director/Choral Director at LSHS.  Mr. Sargent has finished his third year of teaching band, and has worked in Monroe County (Forsyth, GA) since he began his career in 2011.  In Monroe County, Mr. Sargent served as Director of Bands at Monroe County Middle School and Assistant Director of Bands at Mary Persons High School. Under his direction, the Monroe County Middle School Band saw explosive growth in participation and achievement.  Annual enrollment in 6th grade band doubled from when he arrived, and an even larger class is expected in the '14-'15 school year.  Mr. Sargent also assisted in establishing the 4th and 5th grade band program in Monroe County.   The 7th and 8th grade Bulldog Band consistently achieved Excellent and Superior marks at Large Group Performance Evaluation, and could be found performing anywhere from Middle School football games to downtown Atlanta to the University of Georgia. More students are participating in regional honor bands, all-state band, UGA Midfest, pep band, and taking private lessons than ever before.

     Mr. Sargent also served as Assistant Director of the Mary Persons High School Black and Gold Bulldog Brigade Marching Band.  The Brigade achieved, for the first time in over a decade, its first straight Superior ratings and class championship when he arrived in 2011.  Since then, the band has received consistent Superior and Excellent marks and has scored competitively in AA and AAAA competition.  The band will number over 100 marchers next year, and will be the largest band at Mary Persons High School in almost 30 years.

     Before becoming the Director of Bands in Monroe County, Mr. Sargent attended and received his Bachelors of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia. While at UGA his most notable accomplishments included graduating magna cum laude, achieving both Dean's list and President's List Honors several times, being principal tuba of the UGA Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble, Sousaphone Section Leader of the the Redcoat Marching Band, serving as logistics chief for Midfest and Janfest music festivals, serving as camp counselor for the UGA Summer Music Program, and being a brother and Parliamentarian of Kappa Kappa Psi, the National Honorary Fraternity for College Band Members

     Mr. Sargent grew up in Snellville, GA, and is incredibly excited to be returning to teach in the Atlanta area.  He his getting married this summer and is looking forward to starting the next chapter of his life at Lithia Springs High School with his future wife, Lisa, and beagle, Stella.

     Mrs. Emily Lightener has been hired as the Color Guard Instructor.  Emily Lightner started  colorguard in 2001at Lithia Springs High School.  During her time there she participated in the
Marching Lions, as well as the Inaugural Winterguard, in which the group won 2 silver medals  and a gold medal in the Southeastern Colorguard Circuit and WGI.
    After high school, Emily attended Jacksonville State University and earned membership in the
world renowned Marching Southerners Colorguard.  Emily was a member of the JSU Colorguard
for 3 years from the fall of 2005 to the fall of 2007.
     During this time, Emily was able to perform across the country in exhibition for thousands of
eager and upcoming students, parents, family and friends. Emily began teaching guard in 2007.
She has had the privilege of working with groups in Alabama and Georgia. In 2012 Emily began
consulting with the Lithia Springs Indoor Drumline.  She was an important part of developing the
Visual and movement program. Emily ha been the Marching Lions Colorguard instructor since 2013.
    Emily graduated from Jacksonville State University with a degree in management and human
resources. She is currently the Executive director of a local art gallery in Austell.
    Emily married her husband, Andrew Lightner, and now has a little girl, Anna Grace.    Emily Lightner is looking forward to another wonderful season with the LSHS Marching Lions!
  

 

Paul Anderson Named New Band Director

Mr. Paul Anderson has been appointed the new band director for Lithia Springs High School.  Mr. Anderson has 28 years of teaching experience, teaching in rural, urban, and suburban environments.  He has taught at all levels, from elementary music through college, and even founded and directed a community band. His groups have consistently scored Excellent or Superior at all events.  He has taught in Jeff Davis County (Jeff Davis HS, MS, and Elementary School), Bibb County (Southeast HS), Madison County (Madison County HS), Ben Hill County (Fitzgerald HS), Meriwether County (Greenville MS), Elbert County (Elbert County Comprehensive HS), Mitchell County (Mitchell County HS and MS), and Savannah-Chatham County (Juliette Low ES).

Mr. Anderson has been married to Jackie since Dec 13, 1986, and they have four children: Stephen (age 24) married to Maribel Montgomery, Eric (age 21), Karyn (age 19), and Miller (age 12).  All of the children are musicians, having played at least since 6th grade.  Stephen played trumpet for a year before switching to euphonium. He graduated from Madison County HS, then marched with the UGA Redcoat Band from 2008-2011, graduating in 2012 with a degree in psychology.  He currently works as the volunteer coordinator at the Atlanta Food Bank.  Eric started on oboe before switching to French horn his sophomore year in HS. He graduated from Elbert County Comprehensive HS in 2010 and currently works at Pizza Hut in Dahlonega.  Karyn graduated as valedictorian from Mitchell County HS in 2012.  She currently is working at the Dahlonega Pharmacy and the Dahlonega Pizza Hut (with her brother!), but plans to return to school at the University of North Georgia.  Karyn played flute and oboe, and was color guard captain her senior year of high school.  Miller is currently playing the clarinet.  He will be entering the 8th grade this fall.  Maribel was a member of the Madison County and UGA Flag Lines, serving as captain at MCHS her last 3 years.  She is currently teaching English/Language Arts at Salem High School.

The Andersons own 3 dogs: Hammy (short for Hamster, which we intended to get!) is 14 years old, and is a mix of Labrador and Shepherd; Boomer is a Chihuahua mix, and is 6 years old; and Max is a puppy my son Eric got from the Animal Shelter.  We have no idea what kind of dog he is!

Mr. Anderson graduated from Hardaway HS in Columbus, Ga. While a member of the Hardaway Band, he participated in the Georgia All-State Band (under the direction of James Croft).   He attended the University of Georgia (where he met his future wife), graduating in 1986.  While at UGA, he participated in the Redcoat Band, the Basketball Band, the Derbies Pep Band, the Symphonic Band, the Concert Band, the Wind Ensemble, the University Symphony Orchestra, the Brass Choir, and numerous student-led organizations. As a junior, he auditioned for, and won, the Gerschefski Scholarship for performing excellence.  He served as a section leader of the Redcoat Band and the Symphonic Band for 2 years, and was the principal horn player in the Orchestra for 2 years.  He also was a member of the Athens Symphony Orchestra as an undergraduate.  Mr. Anderson was inducted into Phi Eta Sigma, the honorary academic fraternity for freshmen, and participated in the first 2 All-College Bands, playing for Harry Begian and W. Francis McBeth.  He also became a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the professional fraternity for men in music.  While working on his Master's Degree at UGA, Mr. Anderson was inducted into Phi Kappa Lambda, the music honor society, and into Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education.  Mr. Anderson completed his Specialist Degree in the summer of 2000.

As a professional, Mr. Anderson has played horn for numerous churches throughout Georgia, and has played with the Athens Symphony, Tara Winds, Darton College, Mercer University, ABAC, the Athens Brass Choir, and was the founder and conductor of the Northeast Georgia Community Band.  He also has been a member of numerous church choirs over the years, and sang as a tenor with the Athens Master Chorale.  Mr. Anderson served as a guest conductor for the Coastal Plains Honor Band in 2011, and presented a session at the 2010 GMEA In-Service Convention. He has served as a marching band judge for the last 15 years, usually judging between 1 and 3 events each fall.  He has twice been named to Who's Who Among American Teachers.  His current and former memberships include: GMEA (Georgia Music Educators Association), NAfME (the National Association for Music Education- formerly MENC), PAGE (Professional Association of Georgia Educators), NBA (National Band Association), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Kappa Delta Pi.  In addition, he served as an officer in the US Army Reserves, reaching the rank of 1st Lieutenant. 

Mr. Anderson has been active in the community wherever he has been.  He was a member of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Camilla, where he served on the mission council and as a Lay Leader.  Previously he was a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens (served on the vestry, sang in the parish choir, taught Sunday School, and assisted with the youth group), St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Fitzgerald (lay reader, youth coordinator, and assisting with the children's choir), and St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Tifton (sang in the choir and served as fill-in choir director).  He served as a baseball coach with the Fitzgerald Department of Leisure Services and with the Madison County Little League.  Groups under Mr. Anderson's direction have performed for many community events, including playing and volunteering for Special Olympics.

Mr. Anderson is very excited to be at Lithia Springs HS.  He is looking forward to continuing the good work begun under Mr. McConnell, and to helping the band to be the best it can be!
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