Director J. Stachurski is the Director of Bands at R.B. Stall, and is in their seventh year teaching in CCSD. Stachurski graduated from Western Carolina University in 2018 with both a B.M. and B.S.Ed. in instrumental music education. During their time at WCU, Stachurski studied with Dr. Mario Gaetano, Dr. Margi Underwood, and Dr. John West, among many other incredible music educators. Stachurski performed with several ensembles while at Western Carolina, including the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band, the WCU Percussion Ensemble, the WCU Symphonic Band, and the WCU Wind Ensemble. Currently, Stachurski performs with the Charleston Wind Symphony and the Summerville Orchestra. One of their favorite band memories was leading the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Pride of the Mountains in 2014. Stachurski's student teaching was completed at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, NC with Sean Smith. After graduation, Stachurski moved to the Charleston area and started employment with CCSD as the band director at Northwoods Middle School. During their tenure at Northwoods, Stachurski was able grow the band program from 57 members to 198 members at its largest, and also started a drum line at the middle school level. Under Stachurski's direction, the Northwoods Nighthawk Band, as well as R.B. Stall's Concert Band have performed at the Carowinds Festival of Music where both groups have received Superior ratings. In their third year at R.B. Stall, Director Stachurski is excited to continue teaching young musicians to achieve excellence through music performance!

A native of Summerville, South Carolina, Justin West-McKenzie is a well experienced percussionist that has performed throughout the low-country. He graduated from Charleston Southern University with a bachelors in music education and currently holds the position as Director of Percussion at R.B. Stall High School. During his undergraduate, he studied with Dr. Micheal Haldeman and Mr. John Willmarth, where he trained in percussion education, pedagogy, and performance. Mr. West-Mckenzie performed with the CSU Percussion Ensemble, CSU Wind Ensemble, CSU Jazz Band, CSU Jazz Combo, and the CSU Marching Bucs as the battery section leader. Outside of CSU, he has performed in a variety of groups, such as the Charleston Wind Symphony, Summerville Orchestra Chamber Series, and the 2018 Music City Drum and Bugle Corps, where he performed in the front ensemble. In addition to his college education, Mr. West-McKenzie worked with the percussion section at Ashley Ridge High School in their 2019 and 2021 seasons under the direction of Mrs. Meredith Melvin and Mr. Kyle Harvey. In the future, he has plans to pursue a masters in percussion performance along with further building the foundation of percussive arts at Stall High School.

Bio coming soon!