Band Director Bradley Bonebrake’s twenty-five year teaching career has had many ups and downs, but it allowed him to explore a passion for music and share it with other students.

“I’ve been teaching for twenty-five years. Started in the Northwest school district and then moved to Keller ISD for two years, and then opened up Summit High School in 2002. I was there for thirteen years, and then moved over here for Lake Ridge’s third year,” said Bonebrake.

Bonebrake’s story started in Arizona before moving to Bedford, Texas for high school and joining the trumpet section of Trinity High School’s band. Being in band created many memories and lifelong friendships. It created a future path for Bonebrake to take in the music industry.

“I grew up in Arizona. Actually, from kindergarten to eighth grade, I was in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is just outside of Phoenix. And then my father, his job relocated him to Bedford, so I spent my ninth grade year here in Texas. High school band was really important for me, and my band director was very influential. He was a very smart musician, a really good leader and a really good role model, and he had a big impact on me as I was growing up. So he had a big part in why I chose to become a band director,” said Bonebrake. ”I still keep in touch with a lot of my friends from high school, and in particular the ones that were in my trumpet section at Trinity High School. You know, lots of fun memories of band trips and trips to football games and performances of concerts and that kind of thing. So it was all very, very positive for me at Trinity when I was in high school. So lots of good memories.”

While earning a bachelor’s degree in music education at Arizona State University, Bonebrake gained a passion for teaching and combined both performing band and teaching together to become Lake Ridge’s future Band Director.

“I have my bachelor’s in music education, and my focus was primarily on my trumpet at the time.  So I was fortunate enough to have a teaching assistantship position offered to me at Arizona State University. I spent two years there, working with the trumpet professor and teaching some undergraduate students lessons weekly. That experience there led me both to have performance experience and teaching experience at the same time. I kind of learned along the way that I enjoyed the teaching side of things just as much as the performance side of things,” said Bonebrake.

While Bonebrake excelled with trumpet and brass, he acknowledged an opportunity for improvement with other instruments. Being a part of a team and having mentors allowed for Bonebrake to grow and do things in the best way possible.

“I had a lot of weaknesses when I first started out, especially with instruments that I was not as familiar with at the time, like woodwind instruments and percussion. My focus was trumpet and brass. So that’s my strength. Yeah, when I was a first year teacher, I was definitely weak in those areas. I had a lot of really good mentors that helped me throughout the years. I learned a lot by watching them teach, and they would come in and watch me teach and give me feedback and critique. That’s generally how I got better,” said Bonebrake. “Luckily, I’m not doing it by myself. I mean, I’ve got a great staff that’s working with me, and Mr. Ocasio and Mr. Pouttu and Mrs. Pouttu, they all do a great job. Kind of work as a team to get everything accomplished, because it’s a lot of things that we’ve got to get going for the football games and for the competitions. So luckily, I don’t have to do it all by myself.”

Throughout his life, Bonebrake has achieved a bachelors in music education, taught at many different schools, and has developed hundreds of musicians over the years working with a great team, and created numerous band performances for all to enjoy.