Born and raised in central Kansas, Mr. Corey Braxton was nervous about making such a big move.  “I taught for ten years in Kansas before coming here,” Mr. Braxton said. “I knew the cultures in different states and areas are going to be different.”

He says he wants to focus on the students here at Lake and what’s important to their culture, values and traditions.

“I’d like to enhance whatever is important to students and families and just grow from there,” Mr. Braxton said.

Mr. Braxton began his career and passion for music at the same 6-12 school he graduated from. Later, he moved to Missouri, attending Missouri State University for a Masters in Music Education. After completing that, the opportunity to become the assistant choir director for Clear Lake High School and Clear Lake Intermediate presented itself to him.

“My biggest memories are family gatherings, whether it be after church or on holidays, that’s something that was really big to me growing up,” Mr. Braxton said.

Mr. Braxton is the middle child of three brothers and both of his parents come from large families. His mom is one of 10 children while his father is one of 12. According to Mr. Braxton, it is because of this that he has such a strong sense of family.

“We weren’t rich but we weren’t poor either, so spending quality time with family and friends is something that is very important to me,” Mr. Braxton said.

The choral director’s passion for music didn’t start with choir, but with band in his junior high years. Mr. Braxton played euphonium for his school and fell in love with music.

“My middle school band director was someone who shaped my values,” Braxton said. “He was basically a father figure to me growing up, I really valued everything he gave to me and taught me.”

Mr. Braxton accredits his director for the position that he’s in career-wise today. According to Mr. Braxton his former director is retired now, however he hopes that he has made him proud.

It wasn’t until he entered high school that he ventured into choral music after seeing a show choir. Braxton felt he was more capable of expressing himself when he sang. His high school choir program would eventually become the focus of his career, as he later directed a 6-12 school Choir in his hometown.

“Being from central Kansas, a small town, most of my family is still there; my main core is there,” Braxton said. “I chose an undergrad school that was only an hour away, so moving to Missouri State was a smaller challenge.”

The biggest challenge that he has claimed to face thus far in his life was moving to Houston. To continue his career in music, he made the decision to move hours away from his family and loved ones. “Now I’m 11 and a half hours away from everyone I know, I feel far away.”

Even though Mr. Braxton considered himself a city boy trapped in a small town, he was still hesitant on moving to Houston.

“It’s scary moving from somewhere that everyone knows you,” Braxton said. “Then being in a big area where I’m completely a no one.”

It was not all fear though, he was eager for the new experience the two Clear Lake schools had to offer him. He also was looking forward to what he could offer students in the respective programs.

“I was a very shy kid who didn’t know how to come out of his shell, choir and band really allowed me to break out of my comfort zone,” Braxton said. “If [music] had the power to do that for me, it probably has the same power for others like me.”

Part of Mr. Braxton’s philosophy as a teacher is to care about the entire student, not just the aspect he’s focused on teaching. He believes that a student could walk away with so much more than music knowledge when leaving his classroom.