Story, photos by Steve Nash – Special Contributor to BrownwoodNews.com
EARLY – When Connor Benoist was a Florence High School student, Benoist got paid for helping tutor his classmates.
Sort of.
“I used to tutor my friends in math,” said Benoist, who is in his first year as assistant band director in the Early ISD. He is a 2025 graduate of Howard Payne University.
“We had our tutorials all together in the ag shop there at Florence, and we would go over in one of the side classrooms. We’d go over everything they needed to know to pass the test. And as a thank-you, they’d pay me in Altoids, because I really enjoyed Altoids. I went through so many Altoids in high school.”
Benoist, 22, told the story in head band director Emily Fulton’s office at Early High School, where Fulton had just finished telling her own story.
“I’m from Florence,” Benoist said. “We had a family ranch outside of Killeen, so I attended Florence High School, which is also where my dad went to high school.”
As a high school band student, Benoist started out on trombone, then switched to tuba. His experience with helping his classmates learn math was a factor in his decision to become an educator.
“I loved just getting them to the point where they could pass, and then we started getting to where they were excelling, which made me very happy,” Benoist said.
“And then I’m going to credit one of my teachers, Trent Shipp. He’s the one that really led me towards music as my career path. He was my assistant director. . Trent Shipp urged me to go (to HPU) because it’s a great community. The education school’s fantastic, and the connections there just stem everywhere in this area.”
As assistant band director, Benoist runs the middle school band as well as the percussion program.
Before being hired as the Early assistant band director, Benoist already had some familiarity with the Longhorn band. While still an HPU student, Benoist worked as marching tech for Early.
“Marching tech is someone typically training to be a teacher,” Benoist explained. They’ll come out to marching bands and essentially act as another director.
“So as a college student, it’s just a supplemental income to help you get through college. So I’d come out to Monday night rehearsal. And as Travis or Charla (Garcia) or Laurel (Lacy) were going around and teaching, if we’d break off into smaller groups, I’d go around and double check things and just be an extra set of eyes, an extra voice, an extra person. And then when Travis passed, because me and Laurel were such good friends, I started coming just every morning and being here.”
In Fulton’s office, Benoist and Fulton had a brief, friendly debate when asked if they’d known each other before Benoist became the Early assistant director.
“No,” Benoist said.
“Yes,” Fulton insisted.
“Maybe,” Benoist offered in compromise.
“Yes, we knew each other before,” Fulton said, continuing the friendly banter.
“Did we?” asked Benoist.
“Yes. He doesn’t remember this, but I do,” Fulton said. ”
Fulton went on to explain: “Laurel Lacy, who had his position before, and her husband (Nathan) are very good friends with him. I got very close to Nathan and Laurel over the spring that I started my job here. And on my birthday last year, I didn’t have any plans. So they invited me over, and Nathan cooked me a steak dinner.”
Later, the three went to the Pioneer Tap House, where a band called Ripken was playing — and Benoist was the band’s drummer. He is still in the band.
“We watched him play, and we met after he played,” Fulton said.
“I do remember that,” Benoist said. “I thought you had hired me by that point.”
Fulton said Benoist was one of two people who applied, at the end of the last school year, for the assistant band director’s job.
“With his knowledge of the kids and knowing what they went through, there was no competing with that,” Fulton said, referring to the days following the death of previous band director Travis Bryant. “There was no competing with that. He was going to come in and be supportive of the kids because he already knew them.”
Fulton offered a “shoutout” to Benoist, saying, “none of the high school stuff, even though he’s technically the middle school director, would be possible without his help.”
