Meet Mr. Blanchard

Mr. Blanchard is our new music teacher here at Palmerton Area High School! He is a newcomer to Palmerton and is enjoying what our town has to offer. What he likes most about our town is how it is not too far away from big cities but still far away enough to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether it is fishing in the Lehigh River or hiking he loves exploring nature. To expand his love for fishing he even worked at a fishing school for five years during and after high school.

He attended Boiling Springs High School where he was involved in a number of after school activities. Some of those included Jazz and Concert Band, Chorus, and participating in writing competitions. However, Mr. Blanchard wasn’t always interested in becoming a music teacher, in fact it took until high school English Class to become interested. You may be wondering, what does English have to do with Music? Well, here’s the story. Mr. Blanchard wasn’t that fond of English Class and only enjoyed writing. So, he decided to skip English Class occasionally and hang out in the band room. This being said, he decided, “If I will be spending so much time in the band room I might as well learn how to play the instruments!”. And so he did!

After High School he attended college at Penn State, where he became a huge fan of Penn State football. Mr. Blanchard also loves watching the Eagles, as he says, “Go Birds!” At the football games here at Palmerton you will find him directing the Marching Band. He is also the director of Palmerton Concert Band, and the new Jazz Band that will be happening in the very near future! Along with being a director afterschool, he teaches many music credits for students such as Music 10, Music Theory and Concert band the class.

Mr. Blanchard is also a pet lover as he has a dog named Mo and some classroom fish. Unfortunately, he was unable to bring Mo to Palmerton with him, but he is glad that his younger brothers take great care of Mo. They even have an Instagram account where they post pictures of their furry friend! He even has a list of names for all of his fish that are located by the window of his classroom.

Overall, Mr. Blanchard has been enjoying working here at Palmerton Area High School and teaching students about music. He would like to let students know that if anyone is ever interested in learning an instrument, he will be more than happy to help you out. Lastly, He is looking forward to getting to know more Palmerton students and their musical minds/talents!