Jenn Kauffman

Jenn Kauffman has been the head director at Blanchard since 2006. She previously taught in Maysville, Oklahoma for 3 years. She graduated high school in 1997 from Hillsboro High School in Hillsboro, Oregon. She then attended the University of Oklahoma where she earned her Bachelors of Music Education in 2003.

Jenn has been the president of the South Central Oklahoma Band Directors Association, the Southwestern Oklahoma Band Directors Association, the band division of the Oklahoma Music Adjudicators Association, twice presided over the Oklahoma Small School Band Directors Association, has served on the OkMEA All-State Band Committee, and been the OkMEA Band Vice President. She was the treasurer of the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association from 2010-2015 and served as president in 2016-2017. She is currently the Secretary/Treasurer of the Southwestern Oklahoma Band Directors Association and the Executive Secretary of the Oklahoma Small Schools Band Directors Association. Jenn was honored to be chosen as the 2021 OBA Band Director of the Year and as an Exemplary Teacher for OkMEA in 2024. She is passionate about mentoring young directors and regularly has student teachers and participates in OkMEA’s mentorship program.

When she’s not at the band room she enjoys spending time with her husband, Trey, and their cats Sam and Sunny. Jenn loves to workout and does so as many times a weeks as possible She has a passion for traveling as well as languages and visits foreign countries whenever she can. She also enjoys doing anything to prove she’s not old yet, like running longer thanher students, challenging them to scale offs, and winning!

Kara VanVickle

Kara VanVickle is the assistant band director at Blanchard. She previously taught elementary general music for 3 years, her first year in the Orlando, Florida area and 2 years in Norman, Oklahoma. In 2018, Kara also taught at El Sistema Oklahoma as the high school trumpet teacher. She graduated from Shawnee High School in Shawnee, OK and went on to earn a Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Oklahoma in 2015. Kara also spent time pursuing a Masters in Music for trumpet performance at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida from 2015-2016.

As a trumpeter, Kara has had the privilege to perform in many locations across the country with appearances at the 2013 and 2014 National Trumpet Competition and with the University of South Florida Wind Ensemble in Charleston, South Carolina for the 2016 Southeastern Conference of the College Band Director’s National Association.

Outside of music, Kara’s hobbies include taking adventurous backpacking trips with her husband, Jared, and trying to achieve their goal of traveling to every National Park in the United States. When she’s not traveling or teaching, Kara also enjoys spending time with her three adorable cats, Sandy, Patrick, and Winston.

Tyler Romine

Tyler Romine is our percussion instructor and joined our staff in 2022. Along with teaching percussion lessons he plays drums with a few touring bands. We’re glad to welcome him to Blanchard!

Allison Pollman

Allison Pollman is our guard instructor. She graduated in 2017 from Elgin High School, where she was a member of the color guard for 3 years and the band for 4 years. She also danced ballet, jazz, and modern for 13 years and worked as an assistant dance teacher at Sherri's Dance Center in Lawton for 2 years. She recently graduated with her degree in Nursing from OU Medical and is now a nurse there. In her free time, she reads, comes up with random choreography, and listens to epic soundtracks.

Emily Wolf is our newest staff member and will be working with our guard. She is a Mechanical Engineering Student at the University of Oklahoma. She is originally from Wichita Falls, Texas, where she was in Orchestra for 11 years playing the viola, Band for 5 years as a Clarinet and Contrabass Clarinet player, and guard for four. At the University of Oklahoma, she participates in the Pride of Oklahoma with the guard, adding four more years of experience, and was a captain for two of those years.