By Jordan Cochran
Upon completion of his 30-year career as a certified teacher in the Georgia public school system, Dennis Naughton joins Reinhardt’s faculty to teach instrumental courses.
Naughton’s retirement announcement was met with a call from Reinhardt University, offering him a position with the School of Performing Arts.
“I have been familiar with the success of the Reinhardt music program for many years now. I had ambitions of advancing my career to the collegiate level once I completed my years of service at the public-school level,” said Naughton. “This was the exact opportunity I was looking for – it was not difficult to make the decision to join the faculty.”
Throughout the course of his time in education, Naughton served as a member of several marching band staffs in college and went on to teach instrumental music at the high school level, including concert band, percussion ensemble, steel drum band, jazz band, marching band, music theory and music history.
“I am looking forward towards using my experience in the classroom to help aspiring young teachers to be better prepared for the demands of teaching,” said Naughton. “I feel that I have a lot of advice to offer to students who want to start a successful teaching career.”
Naughton’s bands have received invitations to perform at several prestigious universities and has worked with the Southern Star Music Festival for 20 years. Busy summers have included 14 summers as a staff member at Encore Music Camps in Milledgeville, Georgia, Spirit U summer camp and other Spirit Camps, including Spirit of Atlanta. He also spent a year as a staff member at the Atlanta Olympic Band. Naughton is an active member of the Georgia Music Educators Association and of Phi Beta Mu International School Bandmasters Fraternity. He has been awarded the NBA citation of excellence on five occasions.
Naughton lives in Woodstock, Georgia with his wife, Christy, the band director at Northwestern Middle School in Fulton County.
