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The Salem School Division is pleased to announce that Chris Wilkes has been recommended as the new band director at Salem High School, effective August 1, 2012. The formal board approval of Wilkes hiring is expected to take place at the February 14 School Board meeting.
“I am very excited to get back to Salem and work with the great band students at Salem High School,” he says. “I am equally honored to have the chance to be a part of the great faculty at Salem High.”
Wilkes is certainly no stranger to the Salem School Division. From 2001-2010 he served as the band director at Andrew Lewis Middle School. At Lewis, Wilkes taught seventh and eighth grade band, jazz band and sixth grade exploratory classes. His bands consistently scored superior and excellent ratings at various music festivals and during this time he also served as the assistant band director at Salem High School.
“I am blessed to be given this opportunity to become the new director of the “Pride of Salem” marching band and I am probably most excited about getting back to work with many of my former students from Andrew Lewis,” he says.
In 2010, Wilkes was named the Teacher of the Year in the Salem School Division, a distinction that helped him broaden his horizons in the Roanoke City School Division. Later that same year, Wilkes was hired as the Fine Arts Coordinator for Roanoke’s public schools to serve 68 fine arts teachers and over 12,000 students.
“I am very grateful for the leadership opportunity that was given to me by Dr. Rita Bishop,” he says. “She has provided huge support for fine arts in Roanoke City, as well as to me personally.”
Wilkes began his teaching career in Bedford County at Staunton River middle and high schools after earning his Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University and his Master’s in Administration from the University of Virginia. But the music bug bit him long before college. The Franklin County native’s dad, Carlton Wilkes, was his high school band director and Chris’ grandfather was a bluegrass musician.
“My dad gave me my passion for music, and I have really grown to develop a passion for teaching and understanding that it’s all about the children who make up the band,” he says.
Wilkes replaces Jim Paxton, who is retiring as SHS’s band director after 26 ultra-successful years in the school division. Paxton was in charge of the musicians at Andrew Lewis for 16 years and for the past 11 he has been the band director at Salem High.
“I have tremendous respect for Dennis Reaser and the legendary work he did creating the “Pride of Salem” and I worked with Jim Paxton for 10 years, so I know that his hard work and dedication to the band was unequalled,” he says. “I am truly blessed to have a chance to follow those two gentlemen and be a part of such a storied band program.”

Submitted by Mike Stevens, city of Salem