Walk into the Albert Lea High School band room this year and you’ll see a new hand energetically bouncing the baton.

This enthusiastic new band director is Peter Gepson.

“I like to be upbeat, I like to move fast and have fun, work fast and work hard. You need to laugh a little, too,” Gepson said.

But the main thing Gepson, 37, said he tries to always do while teaching the high-schoolers is to be respectful.

“I think you can ask a lot of students and if you do it in a respectful way, they will respond in the same way,” he said.

The upbeat teacher went to school at three different colleges before he started teaching. He got his bachelors degree in economics and music performance from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, then got a master’s in music performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and finally went back to school once more at the University of Nebraska-Omaha to become a certified teacher. He said he didn’t start teaching until he was 27 years old, which is quite a bit older compared to other teachers, he said.

He first started teaching in Nebraska, his hometown state, but wanted to come to Minnesota because his wife, Nicole, is from the state. He ended up teaching in Virginia, Minn., for two years, but because of budget cuts, he decided to take a teaching job at Triton High School in Dodge Center. He taught 90 students a year and after seven years he decided it was time to go to a bigger town and school district.

What instruments does the Albert Lea High School band director play?

His main instrument in high school was the euphonium, a baritone horn. He also owns a clarinet and a trumpet.

He can play all of the instruments, but admits he is not a very good flute player, even though he has never had any trouble teaching it.

After spending time looking around for a band director position, he saw the opening at Albert Lea High School and got the position directing the 130 students in all of the bands, including the concert band, varsity band and Tiger band as well as teaching lessons to the students.

Gepson and his family moved to Albert Lea in late July and said that he likes living in the city. He appreciates the larger size of Albert Lea compared to the Triton High School area because everything is closer here and he doesn’t have to drive far away to get what he needs.

He also enjoys the high school. Gepson said it’s about six times bigger than the high school he attended and three times bigger than Triton High School, so right now he is still just learning all of the things he doesn’t know at the school and the district.

He is also working with the reality that for many of his students he is the third or fourth band teacher they have had in four years.

“It’s been a tough time for the students in the program,” Gepson said, “They have handled all the changes extremely well. They are very respectful.”

Age: 37

Address:Albert Lea

Livelihood:band director for Albert Lea Area Schools

Family: wife, Nicole; son, Jack, 8, daughter, Emma, 5

Interesting fact: He once had a cell phone conversation with Jimmy J.J. “Kid Dynamite” Walker, the actor from the TV show “Good Times.” He enjoys NASCAR.

Despite being the new guy, Gepson said he is glad he gets to “work with the best students in the school on a daily basis.” He also looks forward to the unique challenges that a new group of students brings.

“It’s never boring; it’s never predictable,” he said, “This is my tenth year of teaching and each year seemed to have its own dynamic. You never know what is going to happen.”