Handoff Helper
Reagan Head Drum Major Keeps the Band’s Heartbeat
By Amy Morgan
Ronald Reagan High School senior student Bryson Bodenhamer is no stranger to responsibility. As head drum major of Reagan’s award-winning band, he literally creates its pulse as he beats the tempo with his foot on the metronome pedal. If he loses focus for even a second, all 350+ marching musicians will misstep. Off the field, Bryson works with the directors to keep the program organized, running band camp, communicating practice and sectional times and band-wide events like picture day. He also makes sure new freshmen are forming relationships within their sections. He considers his position “very demanding but very rewarding.”
Some of Bryson’s favorite Reagan memories revolve around the band’s travel experiences. Last year, Reagan’s band attended the International Music Convention in Chicago. Bryson remembers the city being decorated for the holidays and the temperature “too cold to snow!” He enjoyed the opportunity to see the observatory at Willis Tower and the Shedd Aquarium. “It was very special,” he said, surpassing even the group’s trip to Europe his freshman year.
The Chicago trip came on the heels of the band’s Grand Nationals competition in Indianapolis in November, where they placed sixth in the nation – the highest designation they’ve achieved at the invitation-only competition since 2005. The juxtaposition of two major travel events and the band’s normal fall marching season meant Bryson and his peers were rehearsing every day.
Bryson taught himself to play clarinet in the eighth grade at Bush Middle School. He also plays in Reagan’s Varsity concert band, the wind ensemble and RHS Symphony Orchestra, where he fills the spot at piccolo if the music calls for one. He said learning a new instrument is just a matter of training your ear to listen for the notes and balancing your sound with the people around you in the section and the band.
Fall 2026 added a new wrinkle to Bryson’s leadership duties. All three of the band’s directors were strangers to Reagan, including Head Director Connor Vaughn, who came from the North Dallas suburb of McKinney. In addition to helping the new band directors acclimate to Reagan, Bryson spent time last summer working as a camp counselor at Camp Balcones Springs on Lake Travis. This was his first year counseling at the Christian camp where he attended as a camper for the past four years. Bryson instructed in kayak and canoe as well as teaching swimming and fishing – activities in which he’s well versed due to spending his childhood on waterfront property in Oregon. He fondly remembers being able to pilot a small boat just down river to his grandparents’ house as a pre-teen, noting he could “swim before I could walk.”
His grandparents and mother – all physicians – played a large role in Bryson’s goal to become a doctor himself. As his grands owned a rheumatology and veterinary clinic, he was playing with toy stethoscopes and anatomy models instead of trucks and balls like other boys. His mom now works as an emergency room physician at North Central Baptist Hospital. Bryson has taken advantage of NEISD’s health career classes and became a certified nursing assistant (CNA) his junior year – a feat that required 300 lecture and 40 clinical hours. He passed his state licensing exam in March 2026 but must wait almost a year until he turns 18 to be hired. He hopes to join his mother at North Central as an ER technician in spring 2027.
Bryson plans to attend Texas A&M and major in neuroscience before applying to medical school. In his free time, he’s training to run the San Antonio Marathon this November, following a successful ½ marathon finish in spring of 2026. While he admits the hills in Stone Oak are no joke, he loves to throw his tennis shoes on and go for a run. At 17, Bryson jokes that he’s already addicted to coffee.
