BLANCHARD BAND DIRECTORS & STAFF

 
 
 

Jenn Kauffman has been the head director at Blanchard since 2006.  She previously taught in Maysville, Oklahoma for 3 years.  She graduated high school in 1997 from Hillsboro High School in Hillsboro, Oregon.  She then attended the University of Oklahoma where she earned her Bachelors of Music Education in 2003.


Jenn has been the president of the South Central Oklahoma Band Directors Association, the Southwestern Oklahoma Band Directors Association, and twice presided over the Oklahoma Small School Band Directors Association.  She was the treasurer for the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association from 2010-2015 and served as president in 2016-2017.  She is currently the President of the band division of the Oklahoma Music Adjudicators Association, the secretary/treasurer of the Southwestern Oklahoma Band Directors Association, and a member of the OkMEA All-State Band Committee.  Jenn also enjoys working regularly as an adjudicator and clinician with bands of all levels across the state.


When she’s not at the band room she enjoys spending time with her husband, Trey, and their cats, Tsuzie, Sam, and Sunny.  Jenn loves to workout and does so as many times a weeks as possible  She has a passion for traveling as well as languages and visits foreign countries whenever she can.  She also enjoys doing anything to prove she’s not old yet, like running longer than her students, challenging them to scale offs, and winning!

Jenn Kauffman

JENN KAUFFMAN

Classes: HS, Prep, Honor, 5th, & 6th

Birthday: August 5th

Hometown: Aloha, OR

COLLEGE: University of Oklahoma

Email: blanchardbands@gmail.com



KARA VANVICKLE

Classes: HS, 5th, 7th & 8th, & intermediate music (grades 3 & 4)

Birthday: August 3rd

Hometown: Shawnee

COLLEGE: University of Oklahoma

Email: blanchardbands@gmail.com

 

Kara VanVickle

Kara VanVickle is the assistant band director at Blanchard. She previously taught elementary general music for 3 years, her first year in the Orlando, Florida area and 2 years in Norman, Oklahoma. In 2018, Kara also taught at El Sistema Oklahoma as the high school trumpet teacher. She graduated from Shawnee High School in Shawnee, OK and went on to earn a Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Oklahoma in 2015. Kara also spent time pursuing a Masters in Music for trumpet performance at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida from 2015-2016.


As a trumpeter, Kara has had the privilege to perform in many locations across the country with appearances at the 2013 and 2014 National Trumpet Competition and with the University of South Florida Wind Ensemble in Charleston, South Carolina for the 2016 Southeastern Conference of the College Band Director’s National Association.


Outside of music, Kara’s hobbies include taking adventurous backpacking trips with her husband, Jared, and trying to achieve their goal of traveling to every National Park in the United States. When she’s not traveling or teaching, Kara also enjoys spending time with her two adorable cats, Sandy and Patrick.

Colby Bunch

Colby Bunch is our percussion instructor and has been on staff since 2014.  Along with teaching percussion lessons he plays drums with the Chance Anderson Band and is a star of local TV commercials, the most recent being with Fowler Honda.  He loves cats, especially his boy, Khan.

Allison Pollman

Allison Pollman is our guard instructor. She graduated in 2017 from Elgin High School, where she was a member of the color guard for 3 years and the band for 4 years. She also danced ballet, jazz, and modern for 13 years and worked as an assistant dance teacher at Sherri's Dance Center in Lawton for 2 years. She is currently pursuing her degree in Pre-Nursing at OU and is entering the Pride's color guard for her third year. In her free time, she reads, comes up with random choreography, and listens to epic soundtracks.