Airport High School

Eagle Band Staff

Mr. Robert Spitler

AHS Director of Bands

A native of Spartanburg, SC and graduate of Boiling Springs High School, Mr. Spitler holds a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from The University of South Carolina - Columbia and Music Education Certification (K-12) from Elizabeth City State University where he excelled in Saxophone Performance under the studies of Dr. Clifford Leaman. While attending USC Mr. Spitler participated in The Mighty Sound of the Southeast Gamecock Marching Band, Concert and Symphonic Bands under the direction of Dr. David O'Shields and Mr. James Copenhaver, performed in the Left Bank Big Band under the direction of Bert Ligon, and various chamber music ensembles under the direction of Dr. Leaman and Mr. Douglas Graham.

In 1998, before entering USC as a Freshman, Mr. Spitler placed Runner-Up in the Southeastern Young Artist Competition and was a member of the SC Region and All-State Bands. In 2000, Mr. Spitler was a member of the USC Saxophone Quartet that won the South Carolina Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Chamber Music Competition. Upon graduation from USC in 2002, Mr. Spitler was offered to audition for the Army Field Band and The President's Own Marine Corps Band.

Mr. Spitler has been actively teaching as a Band Director since 2004 and has successful experience as both a middle and high school director. Before becoming a Band Director, Mr. Spitler performed regularly in clubs and blues cafe's on the Outer Banks and was part of the Norfolk Musicians Union.

Mr. Spitler is happily married to his wife, Margie, since 2001. They have 4 children: Madison, Makayla, Ethan and Sullivan. They also have 2 dogs: Delta and Stella.

Mr. Alex Easterday

FMS Band Director & AHS Assistant Band Director

Mrs. Jessica Duke Pazdernik

AHS Colorguard/Winterguard Instructor

Jessica Pazdernik, known affectionately as "Paz", is the Colorguard & Winterguard instructor at Airport High School. Paz has been a performer since she started dancing at three years old. She took her dance and performing abilities to colorguard in 1999 at Camden High School, where she was a captain during the 2001 & 2002 fall marching band seasons. She then went on to perform with Clemson University's Tiger Band, where she served as captain for the 2005 & 2006 marching band seasons.

Paz took some time off from colorguard after college before heading back to her alma mater, Camden High School, to join her former band and colorguard teammates as an instructor in 2013 where she helped rebuild the guard program from 7 members to almost 25 before she left. There she learned to love winterguard as much as marching band colorguard and led a team to win Novice Champion at CWEA. Paz joined the Airport High School band as an instructor in 2019 and is successfully rebuilding the guard from 5 members in 2019 to almost 20 in 2025. Airport Eagle Winterguard also received some hardware from CWEA in 2024 - the team placed third in Scholastic Regional A at CWEA Championships.

When she's not instructing guard, Paz can be found behind a camera at any number of local sporting and broadcasting events in and around the Carolinas. From local high school football games around the Midlands to the Miss South Carolina broadcast to college and professional sporting events in Charlotte (including the Panthers, Charlotte FC, Charlotte Checkers, & Charlotte Knights), Paz stays pretty busy.

In her spare time, Paz and her husband, Kevin, enjoy traveling, camping, and playing with their beagle, Brewster. Paz also enjoys gardening (although she doesn't really follow any actual instructions to grow things correctly - she just kind of hopes for the best) and performing with the Carolina Instructor Ensemble Guard during the winterguard season.

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