Georgia Bridgemen Directors
Jon Bowman is in his first year as Director of Bands at Lowndes High School. He has taught in several school systems in the state of Alabama for the past eight years.
Mr. Bowman most recently served as Director of Bands at Prattville High School in Prattville, Alabama. While at Prattville, Mr. Bowman directed the “Pride of Prattville” Marching Band, the Prattville High School Wind Symphony, the Symphonic Band, Concert Band and the Jazz Ensemble. Before his tenure at Prattville High School, Mr. Bowman also served as Director of Bands at Tallassee High School in Tallassee, Alabama and Beauregard High School in Opelika, Alabama where he also served as the assistant baseball coach.
Under Mr. Bowman’s direction the bands at Prattville never received less than superior ratings at District and State Assessment and the Marching Band received numerous Best in Class awards.
Mr. Bowman is a 2000 graduate of Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education. In 2002, Jon received his Masters of Music Education from Auburn University. While at Auburn University Jon was a member of the Auburn University Marching Band, the Auburn University Symphonic Band, the AU Percussion Ensemble and Steel Drum Band, the Auburn Community Orchestra, the Auburn Concert Choir and a member of the Auburn University Singers. Mr. Bowman has performed with the Columbus Symphony, the LaGrange Symphony and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Jon has performed in many venues in the Southeast, Lincoln Center in New York, New York and several countries in Western Europe.
While in Prattville, Mr. Bowman served as an assistant to the Minister of Music at Heritage Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a past member of the Alabama Bandmaster’s Association, the Music Educator’s National Conference, and the National Band Association.
Jon is married to Beth Bowman, who is a real estate agent with the Herndon Company. Jon and Beth are the parents of one child, Tanner Bowman.
Robert Maynard is a 1980 graduate of Clearwater High School in Clearwater, Florida. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree in 1987 from Troy State University and in 1997 he earned a Masters in Music Education from Valdosta State University. Robert taught for 3 years at Saint James Private School in Montgomery, Al. prior to coming to Lowndes. He has been a director for the Lowndes High School “Georgia Bridgemen” for the past 17 years.
He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Professional Music Fraternity, Delta Chi and Sigma Kappa Chi Social Fraternities, Georgia Music Educators Association, and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. Robert has written/arranged music and drill for numerous marching bands throughout the southeast. In his early years, Robert was a member of the Suncoast Sound Drum and Bugle Corps for 6 years, where he played trumpet for 3 years and was Drum Major his last 3 years. He was also brass instructor with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps, Denver, Colorado. He has one child named “Duke”.
Dr. Richard McLendon is an Assistant Director at Lowndes High School. He graduated from Charles Henderson High School in Troy, Alabama, where he was the Band Captain and the recipient of the John Philip Sousa National Band Award. He received the Bachelor of Science in Education Degree from Jacksonville State University in Alabama, the Master of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and the Education Specialist Degree in Music Education from Troy State University. He received his Doctor of Education from Argosy University at Sarasota. Based on his experiences and time spent in south-central Siberia, Dr. McLendon’s dissertation is a psychoanalytical-anthropological comparative study focusing on the measured similarities and dissimilarities of culturally influenced behaviors and attitudes among American and Russian educators using various cultural dimensions as the framework.
Teaching music for over 28 years, Dr. McLendon’s performing ensembles have toured most of the United States, parts of Canada, Ecuador, Columbia, and most of western and central Europe. He has been recognized for several years by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World. His professional affiliations include Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Kappa Lambda, the Percussive Arts Society, Georgia Music Educators Association, the National Band Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. Dr. McLendon has judged bands in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. He has performed with, instructed, and/or arranged music for various competitive drum and bugle corps in the south and in the Midwest. Also, Dr. McLendon has presented percussion clinics in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, and South America.
Dr. McLendon has two sons—Zac and Ryan. Zac was percussion section leader and graduated from LHS in 2009. He is now attending Valdosta State University. Ryan is a senior this year in the Georgia Bridgemen and is the percussion section leader. Dr. McLendon enjoys being with his family, travel, relaxing at the beach, reading a good book, and seeing a good movie.
At the end of the 2008-09 school year, Charles E. Todd, II retired as the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Department Chairperson at Lowndes High School. He has taught in the Lowndes County School System for 30 years, having taught at Lowndes High and Lowndes Middle School. Charles continues to work with the LHS Jazz band and as Supervisor of Fine Arts.
Charles is also an assistant professor of music and African-American studies at Valdosta State University. Charles is a graduate of Glades Central High School, where he was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa National Band Award. He is a 1979 Cum Laude graduate of Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida, having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education. He is also a 1985 graduate of Valdosta State University having earned a Master of Music Education degree. He was “Teacher of the Year” at Lowndes Middle School in 1991. In 1997, Charles was selected as “Star Teacher” for the Lowndes County School System. For 2002-2003, he was voted “Teacher of the Year” for Lowndes High School. He was recently selected to represent the state of Georgia in the national publication “School Band & Orchestra” as one of “50 Directors Who Make a Difference,” published in December of 2007.
Charles is involved in many community activities including being a member and arranger for Christ the King Episcopal Church orchestra where he also served on the church vestry, a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Inc., a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association, Georgia Association of Educators and the National Education Association. He has served as an adjudicator throughout the southeast for the past 29 years, as well as serving on numerous Southern Association of Accreditation visiting committees. Charles is married to Wanda W. Todd, who is currently the Civilian Personnel Officer for Moody AFB. Charles and Wanda are the parents of two children; Charles, a recent graduate of Bethune Cookman University with a degree in Music Technology, where he was a member of the band and percussion section leader, and Tiffany, a Junior Mass Communications major at Bethune-Cookman University, where she is also in the band serving as flute section leader in both the marching and symphonic bands. Both Charles & Tiffany are on the marching band staff at Lowndes High School.
Phil
is a graduate of Crestview High School in Crestview, Florida. He earned
his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Troy State University
in Troy, Alabama. Phil has been directing beginning, middle school
and high school bands for the last 20 years in the states of Alabama
and Georgia. During that time, his bands have consistently rated superior
in marching, concert and jazz band contests. Currently, Phil is employed
by the Lowndes Board of Education in Valdosta, Georgia. He teaches
at Hahira Middle School and is
a staff director for the Lowndes High Georgia Bridgemen. Phil has adjudicated
marching band contest in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky.
Deborah
Bradley has been a music educator in
Georgia, Florida, and Alabama with
experience in Middle School, High School, and Junior College
Bands.
She teaches at Lowndes Middle School and is
a staff director for the Lowndes High Georgia Bridgemen.
Ms. Bradley is a graduate of Troy State University and is the past president of the alumni “Sound of the South” Band. Ms. Bradley was the founder of Epsilon XI Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma. In 1984, she received the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation for special contributions to the excellence of bands and band music. She was the Teacher of the Year in 1982 at Valdosta Junior High School and the Teacher of the Year 1998 for Cook High and Cook County.
She is President-elect of the Women Band Directors International association,
a member of MENC, GMEA, and Kappa Delta Pi, an international Honor
Society in Education. In 1999, she completed her six-year diploma in
Music Education
and has been a featured writer in Band World Magazine. In 2001, Ms.
Bradley received the (OSMA) Outstanding Service to Music Award from
the National
Board of Tau Beta Sigma. In 2002, she received the Silver Baton from
WBDI and also became the Regional Chair of the Sousa Foundation
National Project
Honor Bands.
Alan Drew is a 1969 graduate of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree in 1973 from Valdosta State College and in 1981 earned his Master of Science in Education Degree from Troy State University in Troy, Alabama. He is a member of Georgia Music Educators Association, Phi Mu Alpha professional music fraternity, and Professional Association of Georgia Educators.
Alan has been teaching students in middle school and high school programs for over 35 years. Twenty-eight of those years were full-time with the Lowndes County School System as Director of Bands at Hahira Middle School. There his middle school bands consistently received superior ratings at Georgia Music Education Association Festivals. He has taught marching band clinics in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and has judged festivals and contests throughout the Southeast.
Upon his retirement from full-time teaching in 2004, he taught two years with the Lanier County School System as the Assistant Director of Bands. He then returned home to Lowndes in the fall 2006 where he currently divides his teaching skills between Hahira Middle and Pine Grove Middle.
Alan resides in Valdosta with his wife, Diane. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing golf, and traveling, especially cruising.
