Collierville band hires new color guard director

Jake Cosby

The Collierville High School Band is happy to announce the hiring of Jake Cosby at it’s Color Guard Director.

Mr. Cosby grew up in Batesville, Mississippi, where he joined the band world by participating in high school as a trumpet player. He later took a shot with his school’s winter program and flourished as a color guard member. Throughout high school he continued to participate with the winter group and playing his instrument during the fall.

After graduating, Jake attended Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi. It was there that he joined Magnolia Independent Winter Guard where he marched for three years. While he attended ICC he worked with Itawamba High School Band, where he explored his love for teaching. With the guidance of the director at Itawamba, he worked towards gaining skills in both writing choreography and cleaning technique. Eventually he would help produce and design their winter programs which is where he has found that his heart truly lies with teaching.
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Jake participated with the Open Class Drum Corps: Music City. After his stent with Music City, he went on to the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps, where his passion for the activity only grew and he made many connections that would help shape where he is today. He would then rejoin Music City’s color guard staff as an intern learning more about teaching and crafting his style.

After drum corps, he participated with the Paramount Winter Guard where he marched with the “A” Class Guard in 2016, which won a WGI “A’ Class Championship that year. Then he continued as a member of the Paramount Open Class Guard in 2017.

During his second year with Paramount he began working as a tech with Oxford High School, where he has been for the past 3 years. At Oxford, Jake’s love and passion for the activity was truly able to grow. Here his groups participated in WGI regionals, as well as traveling to Dayton, Ohio for world championships in his second year.

In 2017 Jake decided to create an Independent Winter guard for the North Mississippi/Memphis area. Jake is a founder and the director of Colibri independent winter guard. For two years the Colibri Winter guard has been an MIA class “A” Champions for both years of their existence. The group has also competed in several WGI regionals.

Jake looks forward to moving to Tennessee and begin his work with Collierville High School Band. He hopes to continue working with Colibri and collaborate his efforts with the Collierville program. It is his hope to find a home here at Collierville and be with the group for years to come!

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