CECILY YOAKAM JOINS UNION BANDS FACULTY

Ms. Cecily Yoakam is excited to come home to Union as an assistant band director.

Ms. Yoakam graduated from the University of North Texas where she studied oboe with James Ryon and completed her student teaching practicum under Mrs. Kathy Johnson in Argyle ISD.

Upon her graduation, Ms. Yoakam taught at Barton Middle School in Buda, TX, teaching primarily beginner woodwinds. She then served as the Advocacy and Educational Resources Coordinator at Music for All, Inc. in Indianapolis. Ms. Yoakam then spent five years as an assistant band director at Liberty High School in Frisco, TX. She is actively involved with Music for All, where you’ll find her greeting marching bands in parking lots across the country, and serving as Coordinator for the SWAG Team at the Bands of America Summer Camp in Muncie, IN.

Ms. Yoakam was a drum major for the Union Renegade Regiment, drum major for the North Texas Green Brigade Marching Band, and conductor for the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. She is extremely excited to return to the Regiment family!

UHS Bands March 31 Update

Spring has sprung! 

• Applications for the 2025 Union Renegade Regiment Student Leadership Team close for submission tonight (Mon Mar 31) at midnight!  LINK TO APPLICATION: https://www.cognitoforms.com/UnionBands/_202526UHSBandGuardStudentLeadershipApplication

• On Fri Mar 28 our very own Owen Grass and Ellie Thralls were named Mr. & Miss Union for 2025!  See article here 
  
  

• VOLUNTEERS are NEEDED (yes, YOU!) for hosting the 2025 WGPO State Championship event at the Union Freshman Academy on Sat Apr 12!   Find more info and sign up here now: https://www.cognitoforms.com/UnionBands/UBPCVolunteerForm2025WGPOStateChampionship 

PICTURED: (center left) 2025 Miss Union Ellie Thralls and (center right) Mr. Union Owen Grass, joined by Mr. Pisarra (left) and Mr. Dwyer (right)

Grass & Thralls Crowned Mr. & Miss Union

2025 UHS Mr. & Miss Union Owen Grass and Ellie Thralls (center), and royalty finalists.

On Fri Mar 28 our very own Owen Grass and Ellie Thralls were named Mr. & Miss Union for 2025!   Based on teacher recommendation, academic excellence, school spirit & involvement, faculty feedback, input from the student body, and advancing from a field of 10+ semifinalists and 5 finalists, being named Mr. or Miss Union is considered the highest honor that a Union student can attain. 

We are particularly proud of Owen & Ellie and how they have represented the Union Bands in the context of the bigger picture of the Union community, as 2025 marks the first year since 2019 that the band program has "swept" the Mr./Miss Union crowns!  

Among numerous other honors and achievements, Owen and Ellie are both perennial members of the NBDA District Honor Band, multi-year members of the Union HS Wind Ensemble, multi-year earners of Superior ratings at the State level music solo contest, multi-year performers with the highly-regarded Union HS Indoor Drumline, and have served on the Renegade Regiment's Executive Student Leadership Team, a small group of highly influential leaders. 

The Union Bands community is overjoyed that Owen & Ellie were selected as this year's Mr. & Miss Union; we are admittedly biased, but seeing them both chosen for this honor was a "no-brainer"!   

Owen is the son of Timothy & Briane Grass, and Elli is the daughter of Raymond & Abby Thralls.

CONGRATS AGAIN TO OWEN & ELLIE and their families! 

PICTURED: (center left) 2025 Miss Union Ellie Thralls and (center right) Mr. Union Owen Grass, joined by Mr. Pisarra (left) and Mr. Dwyer (right)