The Directors

Chad Coughlin, Director of Bands

Chad Coughlin has been the Director of Bands since the 2003-04 school year and was the Assistant Director of Bands for 9 years prior to that. Before coming to the Olathe school district, Mr. Coughlin was the Assistant Director of Bands at Blue Valley Northwest High School. He is a 1990 graduate of Olathe South High School. Mr. COughlin graduated summa cum laude with his undergraduate Music Education degree from Wichita State University in 1994 where he received the James Kerr Outstanding Bandsman and the Duerksen Outstanding Graduate in Music Awards. His Masters in Music Education was completed at the University of Kansas in 2008. Professional memberships include Music Educators National Conference, Kansas Music Educators Association, National Education Association and Kansas Bandmasters Association. Mr. Coughlin has served as the High School Band Chair for the Northeast District of the Kansas Music Educators Association during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years.

Darren Jenkins, Assistant Director of Bands

Darren Jenkins has been the Assistant Director of Bands since the 2003-04 school year. He previously taught in band Troy, KS, at Hayden High School in Topeka, KS and in the Lawrence, KS schools. Jenkins holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and a Master of Music in Composition from The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. He has studied jazz composition and arranging with Frank Mantooth and did the majority of his graduate studies in composition with the eminent and prolific composer James Barnes. With well over one hundred works to his credit, he has composed/arranged for symphonic, marching, and jazz bands; orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. Several of Jenkins’ compositions have been published, featured with Southern Music Company, Wingert-Jones Publications, and most notably with Alfred Publishing Company, Inc.

Dean Hanna, Drumline Instructor

Dean Hanna has been the Drumline Instructor since the 2004-04 school year. He has worked with numerous high school drumlines in the Kansas City area. Originally from the St. Louis area, Mr. Hanna is a former member of the Madison Scouts Drum Corps.