After 26 years, the Hooks Mighty Hornet Band will have a former band member leading them following the retirement of T. Jon Kelley as director of bands.
Cameron Connell, a 2019 Hooks High School graduate, accepted the position of director of bands after Kelley announced his retirement earlier this year.
“It was my dream job in the eighth grade. I knew I wanted to be a band director and I wanted to do it here. And I wanted to take over for Mr. Kelley one day,” Connell said. “I honestly thought it was going to be when I was 40. I thought it would be a long time.”
Connell will be coming to Hooks from Clarksville Middle School in Clarksville, Ark., where he has been the director for the last two years. As the middle school director, he has worked tirelessly with the 103 members of the band to increase their concert assessments and improving learning skills for other students through general music in the alternative learning environment.
“Those are the kids that I relate to, the kids that are coming from homes that aren’t very good, the kids that are working at 12, 13, 14 years old and seeing things that kids shouldn’t see,” Connell said. That’s probably what I’m most proud about … A lot of people go, ‘They’re over there, they’re not going to graduate.’ And I get to show them that no, these kids are really smart.”
Connell said he takes a lot of what he brings to his music program from what he learned from Kelley.
“It’s really just kind of God’s plan putting everything in place and working through. I want to continue the legacy of Mr. Kelley and the excellence that the Hooks programs had and try to grow upon that,” Connell said. “I’m a director of bands because Mr. Kelley was my band director. Changing what he wants to do kind of changes who I am.”
One of the key similarities between the two is how they view Friday night band performances.
Early in his career, Kelley said he took the band to marching competitions in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where the band was awarded most entertaining two years in a row.
“That’s been something we’ve always emphasized. We wanted the crowd to enjoy our performances, to feel like we’re connecting with them and to entertain. You go to contest, you’re playing for three or four guys that are never going to see you again. But on Friday night, you’re playing for your families, your parents, your community, the people that really support you and pay the taxes and keep the program going,” Kelley said.
And Connell agreed. “I want the community to be involved, be able to jump up and jam with us and know the songs and laugh and watch their kids have fun,” he said.
During Kelley’s tenure, the band has gone to UIL area marching competitions over several years, placing their highest in 2021 at eighth. They have also earned straight 1s in spring concert and sightreading 19 of the last 20 years.
Kelley said his retirement from being a band director does not mean that he is leaving education or bands. He has accepted a position directing the junior high school band at Genoa Central School District.
“I’m not quite ready to hang up the baton yet. I’m very excited to go there and be a part of the Dragon program,” Kelley said. “I might think about full retirement in about four years or so. But, right now, I’m just happy to still be teaching and working with some new students. It’s less responsibility and more time to spend with my family.”
Cameron Connell is announced as director of bands for Hooks Independent School District. Connell is a 2019 graduate and former Mighty Hornet Band member.
