GABRIEL D. FIELDER, director

Gabriel Fielder is in his eighth year as a band director at Leesburg High School.  Under his direction the "Swarm of Sound" marching band, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble have received straight Superior ratings at FBA district assessments.  Ensembles under his direction have performed at the University of Florida Band Invitational and the Stetson University Band Invitational.  Mr. Fielder graduated with honors from the University of Florida in 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and in 2006 from The Florida State University with a Master's Degree in Music Education.   Mr. Fielder is a member and alumnus of many organizations including the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA), the National Band Association (NBA), the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the International Clarinet Association (ICA), and Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity.  In 2004, he was recognized by his peers as Leesburg High School Rookie Teacher of the Year and in 2005 received a Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association.  From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Fielder represented District 19 of the Florida Bandmasters Association as District Chairman.  He is active as a private instructor and clinician and has been a guest lecturer at the collegiate level.  Mr. Fielder would publicly state his belief in Jesus as the Son of God (see Matt. 10:32 for why this is relevant) and is very thankful for the opportunity to teach.   

Cheri Stoffel, Color Guard Director

Cheri Stoffel has been the owner/instructor of Superstars Twirling Academy for 21 years.  She directed the Color guard at LHS from 2004-2008.  During that time the color guard won many awards.  They earned the highest honor at Disney's Twirlmania as "Corps of the Year".  In addition, they earned many Superior ratings as well as Superior with Distinction and Best in Class awards at FMBC.  Ms. Stoffel is very active with the Drum Majorettes of America where she is a certified teacher and judge and with Twirlmania which is an international competition that takes place once a year at Walt Disney World.  Many of her students and groups have and are currently holding regional, state and national championship titles.

This year six of her students who are all LHS Color guard/Majorette alumni are twirling or are in color guard at their universities.  She is very proud of their accomplishments and believes that the values and work ethics they learned while being a part of the LHS band program played a large part in helping these girls achieve this honor.  Two of her children have been through the LHS band program and her son will be joining next year.  Ms. Stoffel is very proud to continue to be associated with such a wonderful organization.

Maile Deland, Color Guard Sponsor

Mrs. DeLand started baton twirling when she was 5 years old. She became the majorette captain of the Leesburg High School “Twirling Jackets” her sophomore year, and remained captain until graduating in 1998. Throughout her twirling career, she won numerous awards and recognitions. She received Superiors at the district and state level for her solo performances all four years. She also received superiors for her majorette team performances at the district and state level for three years in a row. Her senior year, the marching band had the privilege of being invited to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, GA. The LHS majorette team was the only majorette team that ESPN aired so anyone watching the halftime show (both at home and at the stadium) saw the talent and skills of the LHS majorette team. Sadly, she lost her parents (her mother being the majorette sponsor) upon returning home from the Peach Bowl. While this was a major tragedy in her life, she never gave up on her dreams. She continued twirling after graduating and taught the baton twirling class at Lake-Sumter Community Colleges’ Kids College. She married and started a family and most recently became the LHS Color Guard Sponsor.

Cynthia Page,  band Staff

Ms. Page is no stranger to the Leesburg High School Band program.   While attending Leesburg High School, she served as saxophone section leader and drum major.  Ms. Page brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the job and looks forward to her work with the band.  After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, she found that her true passion was to work with children and as of August 2005 began teaching mathematics at Leesburg High.  In 2008, Ms. Page earned a Masters Degree in Ed Leadership from the University of South Florida.  She is currently a Math Coach at Leesburg High School where she assists the math department in raising individual student achievement.  Ms. Page also serves as the Festival Coordinator for the Central Florida Marching Arts Invitational as well as the FBA District 19 Marching MPA.