I'm Dr. Alex Manners, the band director at Canyon Ridge and Asante. I'm originally from the Kansas City area, and I used to teach elementary and high school band for six years in Missouri. This is my seventh year in the Dysart school district. After I taught in Missouri but before Dysart, I earned a doctorate in music on the French horn. On the French horn, I play in several groups around the Valley: Symphony of the Southwest, the West Valley Symphony, and the Phoenix Brass Collective, as well as occasionally filling in with groups like The Phoenix Symphony. In my spare time, I'm a diehard fan of the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, Missouri Tigers, and Sporting Kansas City, and I enjoy running as a hobby. I enjoy spending time with my wife Daniela and our Great Pyrenees mix dog, Sydney.