Head Band Director
Carter Frederick
Head Band Director · cfrederick@conroeisd.net
Carter Frederick has been the Head Band Director at The Woodlands High School since 2022, a gifted educator and an asset to the CISD music program. In his first year with TWHS he led the marching band to 1st at the BOA North Houston Regional, 2nd at BOA Super Regionals, 1st at the UIL Region F Marching Contest, and 4th at the 2022 UIL State Marching Finals.
Originally from the Houston area, he grew up in Missouri City, TX and is a proud graduate of the University of Houston, where he studied Music Education with a focus in Trumpet Performance. Before joining TWHS he taught for nine years at Jersey Village High School in Cy-Fair ISD. Music and teaching are his real passions in life.
The Staff
Directors
Aaron Stickley
He co-directs the marching band and directs the Symphonic Winds and Symphonic Band. Before joining TWHS he taught in Texas and Arkansas, where his program won a state marching title and a National Band Association Blue Ribbon. An MTSU graduate and active visual designer, he is on the brass staff of the Santa Clara Vanguard.
Aaron Stickley
Proudly born and raised in Kingsport, TN, Aaron Stickley has been the Assistant Director of Bands at The Woodlands High School since 2022. He directs the Symphonic Winds, co-teaches the Symphonic Band and Marching Band, and assists the Wind Ensemble and the cluster junior high and middle schools.
Under his direction the TWHS Marching Band has been a consistent UIL 6A State Finalist, a Bands of America Regional Champion, a silver medalist at the 2022 and 2023 BOA San Antonio Super Regional, and a 5th-place finalist at 2023 BOA Grand Nationals. The 2024 Symphonic Winds was a Citation Winner of The Foundation for Music Education Citation of Excellence, the Wind Ensemble was a 2024 TMEA 6A State Honor Band Finalist, and his ensembles are consistent UIL Sweepstakes winners.
Before TWHS he held band director positions at Dickinson and Lamar high schools in Texas and Paragould High School in Arkansas, where the program earned the 2016 Arkansas Class 4A State Marching Championship, the 2017 All-State Honor Band, and the 2017 National Band Association Blue Ribbon Award. His drum corps experience includes the 2012 Madison Scouts and 2014 Carolina Crown on lead baritone and trumpet, and he currently teaches on the Santa Clara Vanguard brass staff.
A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Middle Tennessee State University in Music Education, he is an active visual designer and choreographer who has designed for programs in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, and Texas. He lives in The Woodlands with his two cats, Aria and Hazel.
Andy Salmon
He has served as Percussion Director at The Woodlands High School and McCullough Junior High since 1999. During his tenure the marching band has been a consistent Bands of America Grand National Finalist and the 2013 Grand National Champion. A published composer and educational endorser, he marched with the Cavaliers and Blue Knights and directs the PAS-honored percussion ensemble.
Andy Salmon
Andy Salmon is a 1998 graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he earned his bachelor's degree in music education studying with James Campbell. He has been Percussion Director at The Woodlands High School and McCullough Junior High School since 1999.
During his tenure at TWHS the marching band has been a consistent Bands of America Grand National Finalist and was named the 2013 BOA Grand National Champion. The TWHS Percussion Ensemble was the 2014 Percussive Arts Society "Call for Tapes" high school champion and performed at the 2014 PAS convention in Indianapolis, and the Wind Ensemble performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2003 and 2012, where he was featured on xylophone and drum set.
Mr. Salmon marched with the Blue Knights and the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. He has music published by Tapspace Publications and is an educational endorser for Innovative Percussion, Zildjian cymbals, Evans drum heads, and the Yamaha Corporation. He and his wife, Claire, who teaches AP US History and AP World History at TWHS, have two children, Caden and Ava. The band remains the vehicle he uses to teach life lessons and skills that help students become good people.
Cynthia Robbins
She joined the TWHS staff in 2014 as the music and visual coordinator for the award-winning color guard. She choreographs routines, designs flags and costumes, and oversees the Winter Guard, the first Texas team to medal at the WGI Scholastic World Championships. She also leads the color guard at McCullough Junior High.
Cynthia Robbins
Cynthia Robbins joined the TWHS Band staff in the summer of 2014 and has been an asset to the program ever since. As music and visual coordinator for the award-winning color guard, she choreographs routines, designs flags and costumes, oversees all aspects of the Winter Guard, and helps plan and run the TWHS marching band contests. She also leads the color guard at McCullough Junior High, the feeder program to TWHS.
TWHS Marching Band and Color Guard is the 2013 Bands of America Grand National Champion and has finished in the Top 10 since 2010. In 2022 the TWHS World Guard earned Bronze at the WGI Scholastic World Championships, the first time a team from Texas has medaled in Scholastic World competition.
Before TWHS, Cynthia served as Color Guard Director at Clear Brook High School and with independent groups in the Houston area.
Design & caption staff
Booster Leadership
The Executive Board
The TWHS Band Boosters is a volunteer, parent-run 501(c)(3). The Executive Board is the voting board that governs the club and supports the program.
Get Things Done
Committee chairs
The real work of the season happens in committees, run by parent volunteers. Reach any of them directly at the address below, or contact us to get involved.