Preston Ridgell is starting his first year of teaching here at Chamblee High School as the marching and concert band director. Before coming to Chamblee, Mr. Ridgell went to college for his undergraduate degree at East Carolina University and then the University of Florida for his master’s. After college, he taught in Southeast Florida, working with a band there.
“I was in Florida in the Sarasota area,” said Mr. Ridgell, “I taught at Venice High School as the associate band director.”
During his time there, Mr. Ridgell got experience working with big bands.
“About 300 people… were in the music department. The school was about 2,800 kids, so a little bit bigger than [Chamblee High School],” said Mr. Ridgell.
His decision to begin working at Chamblee High School was influenced by his proximity to his family and the earlier interviews he did in Gwinnett and Forsyth Counties.
“I knew I wanted to come towards the Atlanta area because it’s closer to my family… My interview for Chamblee High School was [one of the] later ones I had, but I had the best connection in that interview,” said Mr. Ridgell.
Another reason Mr. Ridgell decided to work at Chamblee was the leadership and their decisiveness.
“The other interviews I had… made me feel like they didn’t really know what they wanted. However when I came here and I talked to Mrs. Barnes,” said Ridgell, “she knew exactly what kind of person she wanted to hire.”
Jackson Hudnall (‘27) applauded Mr. Ridgell’s meticulousness in the band room.
“Mr. Ridgell likes to do more warming up, breathing exercises, and [overall preparation] for what we’re going to do,” said Hudnall.
Mr. Ridgell says that his main goals are to build the program up from what it is now, with 174 students, to a much larger portion of the school.
“[I want] to grow the program and keep the band as fun as possible… Considering there are almost 2000 kids at the school, I want the band program to have at least 15% of the student population,” said Mr. Ridgell.
He wants to achieve this goal by exposing the middle schoolers to the band and making it more enjoyable for everyone.
“I’ll definitely go into the middle schools and try and encourage them to join the band department because we have a lot of exciting things planned,” said Mr. Ridgell.
Mr. Ridgell himself started band in middle school, saying he was reluctant to join, but felt at home there.
“I started band when I was in sixth grade in middle school. My mom signed me up… I had no interest at all, to be honest, but I loved my band director… She taught me a lot, and she told me when I was in sixth grade that I was going to be a band director when I grew up,” said Mr. Ridgell.
Madeline Green (‘28) is especially excited for this school year.
“We are learning a lot more music [this year]. I think that’s up to Mr. Ridgell’s ambition,” said Green.
Green is also in the Chamblee Marching Bulldogs, and she says that Mr. Ridgell is not afraid to be blunt about his hopes for the season.
“With the marching band, he makes his expectations a lot more clear because we need to reach a certain level…,” said Green, “but he still pushes us to succeed in both classes.”
Zachary Jeon (‘29) agreed, remarking that Mr. Ridgell’s teaching style greatly challenges students.
“He is really fast paced, so having to keep up pushes me… Mr. Ridgell wants to work on more and [more difficult] concert music to try and push us,” said Jeon.
His advice for any band students this year or in the future is to try out new activities and be persistent with their goals.
“Push yourself. You’ll never know what you can accomplish unless you try. The biggest thing that I notice for certain students is when they get into an uncomfortable situation, they either tend to give up or retreat back to something that’s more comfortable,” said Mr. Ridgell, “but high school is about exploring outside of your comfort zone.”
