Alexa Thibodeaux is the assistant band director at Klein Collins. She graduated from the University of Houston, and came to KC after teaching at Channelview.
Thibodeaux’s favorite part of her job is when her, “students are happy and having a good time enjoying music and playing their instrument. Everyone wants to enjoy their job.”
Thibodeaux suggests, ‘attitude is infectious. It is impossible for me to enjoy my job if the people I work with – my students – are not enjoying their time also.”
Every teacher has some type of inspiration, and with Thibodeaux, it’s no different.
“When I was a sophomore in high school I was a section leader and there was a day in band camp where the leaders had to create a mini show,” Thibodeaux said. “Seeing the kids in my section successfully march in various patterns and knowing I had a hand in teaching them to do that made me feel really good about myself.
This is Thibodeaux’s second year, and last year she felt a lot of pressure to be able to set in stone her role as a director in the Tiger band.
“When we made Area Finals for marching band I think that was a really good moment. As the new person on the staff I felt a lot of pressure to maintain the standard that had previously been set.” Thibodeaux said. “I felt like a lot of people looked up to me and expected me to be able to take them to Finals so when our name got called it was a really good moment. It seemed like all of the work the kids and I had put into our first semester together paid off and I think it really kickstarted a great relationship between myself and the program.”
Before landing here, Thibodeaux was a director at Channel View.
“I was already familiar with the Klein ISD reputation. I am a very ambitious person and I constantly want to push myself to do more and do better,” Thibodeaux said. “I knew that Klein Collins would allow me to push myself into a whole new direction. I had great kids in CV and never would have left for just anything. KC was a great opportunity to learn and try new things.”
There are many people who don’t consider teaching as their career, and it was the exact same for Thibodeaux.
“No, I did not. I actually really wanted to do paleontology and then I had decided I wanted to perform. I went into teaching because I knew I could perform without a degree in performance and then I just ended up falling into teaching because, why not?” Thibodeaux said. “Music has been a big part of my life and it felt like a stable, easy decision.”
All teachers want to inspire, leave an impact, and be able to push their students to become the best version of themselves, and Thibodeaux feels as though students need to be pushed out of your comfort zone to reach that goal.
“ My advice would be to take the uncomfortable pathway and push yourself to try. If there is something you are interested in doing or trying [to]realize there is validity in that feeling. Don’t take away opportunities from yourself.” Thibodeaux advises. “Like the poem ‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley, ‘[you] are the master of [your] fate, [you] are the captain of [your] soul.’ The only excuses you have are the ones you make for yourself. You get to choose your life, so own it.”
