Mr Scotty Vance

Band Director

Rodney "Scotty" Vance

Mr. Vance is the Band Director at West Port High School. He has been teaching for over 32 years.

Under his direction, the bands and color guards have consistently been rated Superior in evaluations.

In 2020, the band enjoyed playing at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Mr. Vance has been at West Port High School since the doors opened in August of 2000. He will "graduate" in 2027.

The West Port High School Band Program includes Symphonic Band, two Jazz Bands, Percussion Ensemble, Visual Ensemble and Marching Band.

Mr Craig Lilly  

Percussion Instructor

J. Craig Lilly is a retired band director, having educated students for over 40 years in Ohio, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Florida (North Marion High School). He was born in Columbus, Ohio and received his B.M. & B.M.Ed degrees from Ohio State University and his MM degree in Percussion Performance from Miami University. Early in his career, Mr. Lilly was the percussion instructor at the University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth) and later took a sabbatical to attend Boston University for Doctoral studies where he directed the Marching Band, Pep Bands (Basketball/Hockey), and taught Class Percussion to music education majors.

Mr. Lilly has worked with the 27th Lancers and Boston Crusaders drum & bugle corps and has had great success with his Winter Percussion programs.

Locally, Mr. Lilly has worked with the Westport Symphonic Band, Belleview High School Marching Band, and the Howard, Dunnellon and North Marion Middle School Bands.

Mr. Lilly has two daughters; Candice & Sophia. Candice is a teacher in Jacksonville and Sophia plays the flute/front ensemble of the West Port Marching Band. Mr. Lilly is engaged to his fiancée, Rebecca, who supports him in all of his endeavors.

Mr. Lilly enjoys chess, music composition, mechanical puzzles, conducting, and performing with the Kingdom of the Sun (Associate Conductor), the Jazzy Dixielanders, Southern Express, and the Central Florida Master Choir. He has two dogs (Othel & Daisy), two Lovebirds (Romeo & Juliet) and some tropical fish (yet to be named)!

Michaela Gardner

Guard Instructor

Hillary McGuire

Woodwind Tech (Saxophone)

Hillary McGuire is the woodwind tech at West Port High School since 2019. She plays the alto saxophone and is an alumnus of the West Port Wolf Pack Band from the class of 2009.

She began her band career at James Wood Middle School in Winchester, VA. In 2003 Hillary moved to Florida and continued playing in the West Port Middle School Band. Upon entering high school, she auditioned for the M.C.C.A. program for none other than the man himself, Mr. Scotty Vance!

Once accepted, it was the goal of the band to uphold nothing less than SUPERIOR ratings (Which continues to this day). We performed all over the state as well as Gatlinburg, TN.

After graduation, Hillary attended the University of North Florida where she received a B.S. in Health Science with a minor in Health Education. For her freshman Fall semester she also played in the UNF Pep band. Hillary has her ADN for Nursing from Rasmussen University

Hillary loves coffee and you can find her drinking it at all times of the day. In her free time, she loves to travel, go hiking, ride her bike. basically she loves the outdoors.