Nate Capron, the new 5-12 band director, was looking to reconnect with his small-town roots, so he decided to come to Yutan after 17 years at his previous school.
“Since I am from a small town…I just felt like it was time for me to be like, I want to go back to a smaller school,” said Capron, who grew up in North Bend.
One thing that Capron admires about smaller schools is that the people are very welcoming and warm.
“Everybody has been very friendly to me…I was just sick on Friday and emailed parents and stuff, and they were just emailing back, ‘I hope we get better,’ all this other stuff,” Capron said. “And it was just really nice to hear that.”
Capron has had experience at schools like Clearwater, Boone Central and Ralston. Bringing over some of the accomplishments from his past schools, he hopes to set new standards at Yutan.
“This year for me is to just make sure that I can keep things going…keep the traditions going, getting [the band] to sound the best they possibly can and have fun along the way,” Capron said.
One thing Capron hopes to keep going is marching band, though he plans to focus on parade marching instead of field marching.
“[Parade marching] helps the band become together as one…their posture and their horn angles…it looks [like] a sense of pride for the band,” Capron said.
Along with parade marching, Capron hopes to maintain the excellent record Yutan’s band has worked for in past years.
“I just want kids to be successful in their instrument and try really hard, and all [of the other accomplishments] will fall in line…I want the program to keep flourishing like it was.” Capron said.
Alec Wacker, a 7th-grade baritone player, believes that having a new teacher will make the transition to high school easier. One thing Wacker has noticed since having Capron as a teacher is that he has helped with the little things.
“I learned some new notes and how to play more dynamics overall…if we needed anything, we could go to him and he could help us out,” Wacker said.
This year, Capron aims to improve every single student’s level of play. One of the main Trumpet players, Kinsley Smith, believes that Capron will help her achieve her goal of making first chair for Class C band.
“[Capron] tries to make sure we have [the music] in our minds… if we’re not getting something right, he makes us play it as a group,” Smith said.
One way Smith believes Capron will help the band grow and continue to be successful is by spending more time on the smaller elements of the songs.
“I think he always looks for the little details,” Smith said. “And sometimes little details are the biggest details.”
