Band Staff

Director of Bands- Mr. Joel Naegele 316-973-2916 or jnaegele@usd259.net

Mr. Naegele is in his 25th year of teaching where he serves as the director of bands and performing arts department chair at Wichita Southeast High School.  At Southeast he directs the jazz, concert and marching bands.  During the 2025-26 school year he will travel to assist at Curtis Middle School. Mr. Naegele has taught in Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon and Colorado. His bands have consistently earned superior ratings throughout his career.

Mr. Naegele completed his Bachelor of Music Education at Kansas State University, his Master of Music Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Conservatory of Music, and his Master of Education in Educational Administration at Grand Canyon University.  Several professional highlights with his bands include traveling to Europe as part of the 60th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion, Chicago, IL, San Antonio, TX, San Diego, CA, Honolulu, HI, and Washington, D.C. 

He has served on the Colorado High School Activities Association as a music advisory board member and state large group adjudicator, American School Band Directors Association (ASBDA) member and Colorado state president, Colorado Bandmasters Association (CBA), Northwest Performing Arts Association (NWPA) and various music educator associations. Mr. Naegele was also on staff with the Colorado Honor Band Association and a substitute trombonist in the Colorado Wind Ensemble in Denver, Colorado. Currently, he is a member of the Kansas Band Members Association (KBA) and the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA).  In the Summer of 2026 Mr. Naegele will travel as a staff member with the "Heartland European Tour" group.

Mr. Alex Meek- Assistant Band Director

Alex is currently in his seventh year of teaching, first in the Wichita Public Schools. His duties include assisting with the concert and marching bands at Southeast High School, as well as co-teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Bands at Christa McAuliffe Academy. He previously taught in Buhler USD 313 as the Associate Director of Bands, where he acted as the lead teacher at Prairie Hills Middle School, Plum Creek Elementary, and assistant at Buhler High School.

During his time at Buhler, Alex’s groups consistently achieved Superior “I” ratings at various League, regional, and out-of-state festivals. Under his leadership, the Prairie Hills Middle School Jazz Band was also selected to perform at the 2025 KMEA In-Service Workshop where they performed for music educators from around the state. The Buhler High School Marching Band is also widely regarded as one of the top programs in Kansas, having placed consistently in the top 3 of the Kansas Bandmasters Association Open Class Marching Competition the past few years. This competition is open to schools of all sizes, yet Buhler is the smallest school to ever achieve this high of a ranking. His private students find success as well, by earning top chairs in SCKMEA and All-State groups as well as earning Superior ratings on solos and small ensembles. 

Outside of school, Alex demonstrates his passion for lifelong musicianship through community ensembles. As a performer, he has played with the Wichita Wind Symphony, Great Plains Wind Symphony, Hutchinson Municipal Band, Delano Wind Ensemble, Hutchinson Symphony, and the very first Classical Revolution ICT event that brought chamber music to a public space in Hutchinson. As an organizer, he co-founded the Great Plains Wind Symphony (a semi-professional concert band based in Hutch) and joined the newly-formed Board of the Hutchinson Symphony after the organization ceased operations in 2024.

Alex holds a Bachelors in Music Education from Kansas State University and is a member of NAfME, KBA, and KMEA. When he is not involved in all things band, you can find him hiking, running, spending time with family and friends, or hanging out with his cat Norma Jean.

Mrs. Shannon Dykstra- Percussion Instructor

Mrs. Shannon Dykstra is the recently retired band director at Curtis Middle School. Mrs. Dykstra will continue on as our drumline instructor at Wichita Southeast High School.  Before teaching in Kansas, Mrs. Dykstra taught for 25 years in Iowa where she conducted multiple honor bands throughout Iowa and her students achieved high levels of musicianship. Dykstra received her bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Master’s Degree in Percussion Performance graduating Summa Cum Laude both from the University of Oklahoma.  Mrs. Dykstra is a member of the Kansas Bandmasters Association and the Percussive Arts Society.  Mrs. Dykstra is passionate about music and transforming students' lives, (while they transform hers) daily through responsive leadership development. 

Ms. Melanie Pasillas- Color Guard Instructor

Bio coming soon