High school music director Alexander Breault owes much of his musical education career to his high school piano teacher.

“I followed along the same track that he had,” Breault said. “That was probably the leading thing that put me into music education. In such a short amount of time … it filled in all the little gaps and blanks and everything that I had been so lost on at that point. Everything … just started clicking.”

A University of Rhode Island graduate in music education, Breault said he has several ideas for the music program at the high school.

“The first and foremost thing was to grow what was already here,” Breault said. “In looking at the courses, what I ended up really wanting to do was make courses that continued on the beginning stuff we already had.”

Among his many ideas is a stand band. A stand band is a band that plays along with the school’s marching band in the football stands, during games.

“People who couldn’t really make it to marching band rehearsal could just come in and have some fun with us in the stands,” Breault said. “It would just be a little informal thing.”

Breault said several people joined his trial run of the stand band, during a recent football game.

“We had about an additional 10 people,” Breault said. “From there, we’ve … had some additional people, but it’s been a little spotty on these last couple games.”

Breault said the next step for the band will be playing at basketball games as a pep band – “little groups of people just to make some noise, show some support for everyone” – and creating more of a musical partnership between the middle school and high school.

“We are looking to pull more weight between the middle and high school to get some of that involvement,” Breault said. “Not going to lie: we are a small department … so we are looking to build that up just a little bit.”

But it isn’t just the band makeup that’s going to get a makeover. Breault said his musical theatre students will also be playing more with musical scores. Though the class does have quite a bit of overlap with straight drama, Breault said he tries to focus more on the music than the acting.

“We’re working on “Into the Woods” – something easy to get started on,” Breault said. “But then you hit the problem of can they read music? So, it’s a work in progress, but they are doing really well. I am really impressed with how they are doing.”

Breault said he tries to keep his approaches fresh and interesting for all students, regardless of experience.

“A lot of the music stuff, it’s a very personalized way to learn … each individual concept,” Breault said. “Every day, it’s a learning experience on my end, too – they’ll come in, [a teaching method] didn’t work – okay! That’s off the table.”