by Molly Meeks |

This year, Paul Warnex will “hang up” his conducting baton for good He has been band director for 35 years at Liberty High school.

Warnex conducts the marching band, pep bands and the symphonic band, as well as, conducting and assisting the Junior High and Middle School bands. He has a degree in trombone performance and has played in bands and directed at schools all over the Midwest. His years of experience, and many of his personal performances in bands all over the country, provide him with the ability to shape the districts’ early musicians into exceptional performers by their graduation.

“He’s great, and generally he’s a very fun teacher to have,” senior Monica Gehrig said. “He’s very personable with the students and he’s very nice to everybody and everything seems to get done during class time.”

When contest season rolls around, Warnex whips his band into award winning shape, and almost always receives superior ones at contest. In music contests, scores are on a scale of one to five, one meaning flawless and five meaning the performance was

poorly done. Warnex and his bands have received 23 consecutive superior ratings at full band contest.

“I mean we get stuff done in band and I like that. We play a lot and he’s very picky, which is good because we always get ones at contest,” junior Justice Tyson said. “He wants to get stuff done, he’s always like ‘Come on guys, let’s get this done.’ He demands respect and so he does get a lot of respect.”

Warnex, capping his retirement year, was awarded the MSHAA Outstanding Music Educator of the Year for the 2012-13 school year. Each year the award is given to one director, among hundreds, in the state of Missouri.

“I think my favorite part of him is I like having a standard of excellence that is definitely applied in every aspect of the music program that I’ve been participating in,” Gehrig said. “The fact that I know we have a very solid director, helps ensure to me that we are going to have a very solid performance.”

The process of filling the open position as band director began with giving applicants.

“The new director will definitely have  big shoes to fill,” junior Erin Martin said. “I mean I’ve only ever had Mr. Warnex. He cares about us, and he shows us he cares by the way acts, he shows his emotion.”

Eddie Owen, from Staley High school, will be Warnex’s replacement.

“Mr. Owen student taught with me years

ago, he’s the band director at Staley High School,” Band Director Paul Warnex said.

Owen was a student teacher with Mr. Warnex early in his teaching career, it is as if he is returning to where he started. Trying to do the job of a 35 year veteran will not come easily for Owen, especially with new freshmen and sophomores coming up next year.

“If the new teacher is like Mr. Warnex plus a few extra good things, then I’ll like him. If not then who knows,” Tyson said. “I think it really depends how he approaches it, so we can still have an awesome band.”

Warnex has molded Liberty’s musicians for as long as anyone can remember, and cannot easily be replaced.  Liberty will be losing one of the greats.

“I’ve been teaching for 35 years. My favorite part of teaching is having contact with all of my students and their parents,“ Warnex said.