Earl E. Shaffer, Jr. - Director

Earl E. Shaffer, Jr. is in his 32nd year as a teacher of public school music. An Arlington, Virginia native, he graduated from Yorktown High School in 1975, attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and graduated from James Madison University in 1980 with a Bachelors of Music in Education degree. He was the director of the Covington (Va.) High School Band for nine years prior to moving to Chesterfield County in August 1989 where he began a seventeen-year tenure as the director of bands at Lloyd C. Bird High School. During his tenure in Chesterfield, the Lloyd C. Bird Band grew to a membership of over 200 students and has been recognized eleven times as a Commonwealth of Virginia Honor Band. The band has been a regular performer at College football games in the commonwealth at locations such as The University of Virginia, The College of William and Mary, Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Richmond.

In 2006 he was appointed band director of the new Cosby High School, which opened in August of that year. The Titan Band has had a fast rise to prominence in its brief history. The band has earned SUPERIOR ratings at the state concert festival every year, with the last four being unanimous SUPERIORS. The band has been named a COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA HONOR BAND for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 as well. The band has performed by invitation for football games at the University of Richmond and the College of William and Mary. They have an active traveling schedule having performed in Myrtle Beach, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and most recently, on board two Carnival Cruise Ships! Mr. Shaffer is proud to be selected as the Cosby Fine and Performing Arts Teacher of the Year for 2009.

Mr. Shaffer is an active adjudicator for band festivals in the mid-Atlantic region and is a sought-after guest conductor and clinician of bands.

Other Honors

• Mr. Shaffer was inducted in 2011 to the High School Band Directors National Association (HSBDNA) Hall of Fame in Columbus, Georgia.
• Mr. Shaffer was selected as Lloyd C. Bird's "Teacher of the Year" for 1998.
• He was nominated for the years 2002, 2000, and 1998 as a "Who's Who Among America's Teachers".
• He is only the 16th director in state's history to be listed as a "Ten-year Virginia Honor Band Director".
• In 2001 he completed his second two-year term as chairman of V.B.O.D.A District III.
• He was also nominated in 2008 for recognition by the National Society of High School Scholars.
• He has been a guest lecturer for prospective music education students at Virginia Commonwealth University and Longwood University.
• Mr. Shaffer is also a member in Phi Beta Mu, an honorary national fraternity of band directors.

Personal

His wife Ellen, also a graduate of JMU, is a first grade teacher at Patrick Copeland Elementary School in Hopewell. They have three grown children. Katie is a fourth year student at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Jeff is a recent graduate of James Madison University and his twin sister Megan is a recent graduate from the University of Virginia. Away from teaching, Mr. Shaffer is an avid N-Scale and O-Gauge model railroad operator and collector, a longtime “World’s Greatest Hobby Ambassador” (WGH) which is a national organization designed to promote model railroading. Mr. Shaffer is a pilot of radio controlled aircraft, a Washington Redskins and a Washington Nationals fan, a clarinetist who has recorded with the nationally known Keystone Wind Ensemble of Indiana, Pennsylvania and who currently performs with the Commonwealth Winds of Richmond Virginia. He also plays softball for the “Ambassadors” in the Chesterfield County “50 and over” league.

Mr. Shaffer can be reached at Earl_Shaffer@ccpsnet.net .