Meet the Directors

Mr. Amsberry

email: joe.amsberry@wsr.k12.ia.us

school phone: 319-352-3632

Mr. Joe Amsberry is a middle school band director at Waverly-Shell Rock Middle School, where he teaches and directs the 5th grade band, 6th grade band, and the 7th grade jazz band. Mr. Amsberry and the 7th/8th grade band director, Mr. Winkey, also co-teach between the 5th-8th grade bands.

Previous to W-SR, he taught 5th and 6th grade band in the Cedar Falls School District in 2017-2023 and 5th-12th grade band at Alburnett Community School in 2016-2017. In his previous teaching experiences, Mr. Amsberry developed a passion for teaching young students what Band is all about and to help them fall in love with making music on their instruments.

Mr. Amsberry has strong roots at Waverly-Shell Rock as a W-SR High School graduate of 2012. He graduated from Wartburg College in 2016 with his Bachelor of Music Education, and he completed his Master of Arts in Teaching with a Music Education emphasis from Morningside College in 2020. His professional affiliations include the Iowa Bandmasters Association and Northeast Iowa Bandmasters Association.

Outside of teaching, Mr. Amsberry loves to cheer on the Wartburg Knights, especially the Women's Basketball Team, of which his dad is the head coach. The team has had great success as they traveled to the NCAA Final Four in 2016, 2018, and 2024. In 2018, the team had a 31-1 season, and Coach Amsberry was named National Coach of the Year. The team regularly wins American Rivers Conference titles, and cheering on the team has provided a lot of quality time for the Amsberry family. Mr. Amsberry also enjoys volunteering at St. Mary Catholic Church as a cantor, lector, and accompanist.

Mr. Amsberry and his wife (Elizabeth, W-SR Class of 2011) live in Waverly, where they have four children: William (7 years old), Sophia (4 years olds), Violet (2 years old), and expecting a baby girl at the end of May.

Mr. Winkey

email: tyler.winkey@wsr.k12.ia.us

school phone: 319-352-3632

Tyler Winkey is in his thirteenth year of teaching and eighth year as a middle school band director at Waverly-Shell Rock Middle School. He directs the 7th grade band, 8th grade band, 8th grade jazz band, and teaches individual lessons to 7th and 8th grade students. Mr. Winkey and the 5th/6th grade band director, Mr. Amsberry, co-teach 5th-8th grade bands. He also serves as a member of the Instructional Leadership Team at W-SR. Tyler previously taught at Aplington-Parkersburg and AGWSR Schools for five years.

A native of Aplington, Iowa, Tyler graduated from Aplington-Parkersburg High School in 2008 and is a proud, third generation graduate of Wartburg College. Tyler received his Bachelor of Music Education degree in K-12 Music and a Leadership minor from Wartburg in 2012 and received his Master of Arts in Teaching from Morningside College in 2020.

Mr. Winkey accepted a shared teaching position between Aplington-Parkersburg and AGWSR Schools in 2012. Tyler taught 5th grade band, 6th grade band, and a 6th grade music history class at A-P; and was the high school band director at AGWSR. He doubled the student enrollment of the high school band program at AGWSR, re-introduced the marching and jazz programs, and established a strong presence at solo/ensemble contest; with over half the events receiving Division I ratings. His high school bands also received nothing but Division I ratings each year at Large Group Contest.

Tyler is an active music adjudicator and enjoys serving as a judge/clinician at local, district, and state events. He also has been honored to serve as a guest director at several honor bands and enjoys working with students of all ages.

Mr. Winkey grew up with the band room being a very familiar place. His dad, Randy Winkey, was the middle school band director at Aplington-Parkersburg for many years; and still directs the 5th grade band and 7th/8th grade jazz band on a part-time basis. Next year will be his 50th year teaching instrumental music!

Outside of teaching, Tyler loves to travel, volunteer at local organizations, and spend quality time with friends and family. He is a proud twin dad to boys, Corbin and Slater. When he’s not chasing the twins around, he enjoys staying active outdoors and competes in triathlons of all distances. Each spring, he dusts off his tennis racket and serves as a volunteer boys high school tennis coach at W-SR. Tyler and his wife, Kelsey, live in Cedar Falls, with twin boys, Corbin and Slater, and a Cavapoo pup, named Herky.