Rock Hill, SC – As we start the 23-24 school year, Riverwalk Academy is proud to announce Mark Yost as the Director of Bands.
Director of Bands, Mark Yost states “I am looking forward to returning to teaching. Much of my time over the past 11 years was spent handling all the administrative responsibilities that are required of a large instrumental program and preparing for the next performance. That left little time to share the excitement of learning how to create music which is what I most enjoy as both an educator and a performer.”
Yost earned his BME from Central Michigan University in December of 1985 and started his teaching career at Webb Jr. High School in Hazel Park, Michigan in January of 1986. From there Yost earned his Master of Music Education (MME) at Bowling Green State University.
After earning his MME, Yost returned to Rock Hill in 1990 where he had been hired as the band director at Castle Heights Middle School. He was named the Director of Bands at Rock Hill High School in 1993 and moved to Northwestern High School as the Assistant Director of Bands in the fall of 1997. He was named the Director of Bands at Northwestern in 2012.
During Yost’s tenure at Northwestern, he worked with the concert bands, marching band and jazz bands and assisted with the middle school bands at Rawlinson Road Middle School, Sullivan Middle School, and Dutchman Creek Middle School.
Directed by Yost, the bands at Northwestern earned consistent superior ratings, placed numerous students in the region and all-state bands and students from the program regularly participated in the SCBDA Master Recital Competition, the Jazz Honors Combo, and the All-State Jazz Ensemble. In addition, the program earned the SCBDA Outstanding Performance Award every year and bands under his direction performed in London, New York, New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago, and Honolulu, and were selected to perform at the SCMEA In-Service Conference in 2006 and 2011, as well as the Jazz Education Network national convention in 2011.
Yost taught IB Music from 2006 through 2012, was the state SCBDA Jazz Chair from 2007-2022, and the president of the South Carolina chapter of IAJE from 2006-2007.
Yost’s professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, the National Band Association, the American School Band Directors Association, the South Carolina Music Education Association, and the South Carolina Band Directors Association.
Riverwalk Academy is proud to welcome Mr. Mark Yost to our staff and believes our shared commitment to excellence will promote continued achievement.
Yost expressed that his goal in teaching band is to “instill in all my students a love for music that allows them to be lifelong producers, and consumers, of music. I believe music is unique as it is one of the few activities a person can start while in school and continue as an active participant for the remainder of their life.”
Middle School Principal, Dr. Dempsey stated, “Mr. Yost brings a passion for music and students that will be a benefit to the band program at Riverwalk Academy. His years of experience and work with a wide variety of students and age ranges will allow the band program to flourish. We believe that all students deserve an opportunity to grow in their personal areas of strengths and individual interests and Mr. Yost will be an asset in achieving this goal. We are so excited to have Mr. Yost on staff at Riverwalk and look forward to the growth that the bands of Riverwalk Academy will experience under his leadership and direction.”
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About Riverwalk Academy: Riverwalk Academy is a public K-12 charter school located in western Rock Hill. Riverwalk Academy is in its ninth year of operation, and it serves over 680 students from seven different school districts. Riverwalk Academy’s uniqueness is its approach to learning where students learn by solving real-world problems through a project-based learning model.
For more information about Riverwalk Academy, please visit www.riverwalkacademy.com.