Mr. Drew Faraci

Wood County Junior High School

Teacher

Band 6-8

TEACHER BIO

My name is Mr. Drew Faraci, and I am proud to be the new middle school band director at Wood County Junior High! I have moved jobs constantly in the past, but I plan on staying here for a good majority of my career. The story of how I finally got this job is very interesting because I tried to get it for many years...

After many long days and nights, I earned my master's degree in Music Ed with a minor in trumpet performance back in 2011. Before that, I spent some time teaching at schools on Long Island and rotating between them. After earning my master's degree, I was hired at my first real job as the band director at Sayville High School, which is also located in Long Island. I met my wife, Amy, in 2015, at a music conference in Rochester, and then we were married in 2017! It was at this time that I made the big decision to resign as the Sayville band director and leave Long Island to live with my wife. I was able to have a job secured at the Brushton-Moira School District as the 5-12 band director, which was a totally different experience than teaching only high school bands! Unfortunately, my time at Brushton-Moira was cut short in June 2020 when I was informed that I no longer had my job because band and chorus would be temporarily discontinued because of the pandemic. When I heard the middle school band teacher at Wood County Junior High retired, I was eager to apply, only that there was no opening, and the district instead wanted the high school band director to manage both bands for this school year. Luckily, I was asked by the Wood County School District instead if I would like to apply for the general music teacher position at Pasago Middle School along with teaching brass band lessons, where my wife was teaching chorus. I was hired by the district in September 2020. Although I enjoyed teaching music, teaching regular music wasn't the same as teaching band. The following school year, the district kept the position closed and had one of the music teachers manage the middle school band instead. After the new year, the position was opened, however I was not offered the job because I was asked to continue to teach music. I was ecstatic when I heard the news in October 2022 that there were openings for middle school band and chorus at Wood County Junior High School! My wife and I applied for these jobs, and we were beyond excited to learn that we had finally been hired. We started following the winter break in 2023, and I am so happy to finally be back on the podium again!

During my time at Brushton-Moira, I discovered my love for teaching specifically middle school band. I am so thrilled to be able to teach at a fine school with a great academic program and music department, as well as teaching with my wife and fellow colleagues, and better yet, teaching middle school band!! I finally seem to have found "home," and I am hopeful that I will be staying here for many years to come. It is an honor to teach at a school with such a prestigious music program and the reputation that comes with it, and to be able to carry on that great legacy. Ironically, the Wood County Junior High Band went through their struggles as well when they went through multiple directors over the past three years. I think it is safe to assume that we are all in the same boat, which means we suffered the same conflicts, but now everything has been settled!

It is my mission as the new middle school band director to enrich the band into what may be perceived as the impossible, but soon will become possible! The bands here have a reputation of being one of the finest middle school bands in the state, and I plan to exceed that and strive to become one of the best middle school bands in the country, all while having fun and laughs in the process!

I am a trumpet player, and I do all sorts of professional gigs, whether it be playing for jazz and rock bands, musicals, or orchestras. Before my teaching days, I was also part of the Bluecoats Bugle Corp. for 4 seasons. In addition to my trumpet playing, I maintain an active and successful trumpet studio with many great kids! I learned in college how to gain proficiency in all of the band instruments. I am strong on brass instruments, but I still have a decent handle on the woodwinds and percussion. I believe that keeping your skills on each of the instruments up-to-date is crucial in being part of a band director.

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