Ever since Grace Cooke was in elementary school, band has been her specialty.

She played four years in band at Clopton High School and another four at Lindenwood University. For the last three years, she worked as a band director at Belle High School.

Now, Cooke will be bringing her longtime band experience to Montgomery County R-II as she takes over the district’s director duties for the 2026-27 school year.

Cooke said she is looking forward to working at her new home this year. She held an informational meeting for R-II students and parents at the Montgomery County Middle School cafeteria on July 16 and plans to hold a marching band camp for high school students on July 29-31 and Aug. 4-7.

“I’m hoping to continue the trajectory of the band,” Cooke said. “It seems like it’s been growing quite a bit. There are a lot of younger kids joining. We are supposed to have a big sixth-grade class hopefully. I like to continue their tradition of excellence here.”

Cooke replaced Lauren Seifried, who worked as the R-II band director for the last three years. The Eolia native came from a school that is located in Maries County, south of Jefferson City.

“I saw (the R-II job) posted online and I was hoping to get closer to home and to my family,” said Cooke, who recently moved to Fulton. “They’re from the northeast Missouri area. I actually applied for it previously right out of college.”

Cooke graduated from Lindenwood in 2023. She was hired to work as band director at Belle right out of college.

“I had a small group there and I feel like we made a lot of progress just working on those basics like fundamentals and really valuing that and helping the kids get to the next level in that way,” Cooke said. “I think that’s super important and I would like to continue that here (in Montgomery County).”

Cooke first became involved in band when she was in fifth grade. She played the trumpet and euphonium and was a drum major for two years at Clopton, where she graduated in 2019. She said her high school teacher inspired her to do band.

“I like that it’s like a team sport,” Cooke said. “Everyone is important. There is no bench in band. Everyone always has to be at their best to contribute to the team, so I think that’s really important in that way to give kids that where they are always valued and needed. It’s special in that way.”

Cooke said she enjoyed her time playing in the band at Lindenwood.

“It’s really fun,” she said. “Clopton was pretty small. It’s either a 1A or 2A school. I like being in the bigger group and the marching band had like 70 people. That felt big to me. I know there are bigger schools out there. But it was really fun being in that bigger group and being at the higher level was a good time.”

Cooke said she is excited about seeing her band play at the football games this fall. MCHS’ football season begins on Aug. 28 with a home game against Hermann.

“It’s going to be crazy, but it will be a good time,” Cooke said.