Welcome Our Newest Team Member at ARVBands

Hello all! My name is McKenzie, and I’m incredibly excited to be a part of ARVBands this season! I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself before the school year gets started.

I’m a 2025 graduate of Ozark High School, where I was involved in band from 6th grade through the end of the fall semester of my senior year. I started out on clarinet and made All-Region before switching to alto saxophone my freshman year. Not long after, I became one of the lead alto players in jazz band, which allowed me to perform solos and improvise. I loved every part of band, but marching season was always my favorite.

My favorite show I have performed was LOCOmotive during my junior year, arranged by Bass Deese and Donald Myers. It featured Homeward Bound by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3. That season gave me so many memories I'll always look back on, and I'm incredibly thankful for everything my directors poured into us. They pushed us to be better every single day, and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.

For the longest time, I planned on pursuing a degree in Music Education after high school. When graduation came around, though, life took me in a different direction. Somewhere in the middle of trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I unexpectedly found a passion for emergency medicine.

I attended ATU–Ozark, completed EMT school, and passed the National Registry on my first attempt. After earning my national license and acquiring my Arkansas state healthcare license, I was hired by Fort Smith EMS in February and have been working full-time 12-hour overnight shifts ever since, serving the downtown region of the city. It definitely wasn't the path I expected to take growing up, but it's one I've really come to love.

Funny enough, while I was in EMT school, Christopher Welch, ARVBands, was taking the same course at a different college. He got certified just a couple of weeks before I did, and neither of us knew we'd both end up working for Fort Smith EMS. Once I found out the guy behind ARVBands was also an EMT, I knew I wanted to work with him. After I finished orientation and protocol training, I got exactly what I asked for, and we were partnered together on truck 12!

Ever since Chris offered me the opportunity to join ARVBands as a videographer, we've been planning for this season, and I couldn't be more excited to finally get started. One of my favorite things about ARVBands is its passion for recognizing the hard work that goes into the marching arts. Every rehearsal, every performance, and every competition has a story behind it, and I can't wait to help capture those moments for students, families, and directors to look back on for years to come.

With all that said, I thank everyone for reading. I hope everyone has a great rest of their summer, and I can't wait to see you all out on the field very soon!

We are incredibly excited to add McKenzie to our team. She will be a great addition to our team. She is bringing new ideas to the channel and will allow us to capture more of your content. More to come, and see you this Fall!