Band Staff

Scot McGuire is the Director of Bands at Northwestern High School. Mr. McGuire has over twenty years of experience teaching middle and high school bands in South Carolina. Bands under Mr. McGuire’s direction have consistently received the South Carolina Band Directors Association (SCBDA) Outstanding Performance Award and numerous Superior ratings at the SCBDA State Concert Performance Assessment, Jazz Performance Assessment, Solo and Ensemble Performance Assessment, and have been consistent finalists in the State Marching Championships. In Mr. McGuire’s time at Dutchman Creek, over three hundred of his students were selected to District, County, Region, and All-State Bands.

Mr. McGuire is a native of Fort Mill, SC, and was a member of the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps. Mr. McGuire received his Bachelor of Music Education from Winthrop University and his Master of Music in Conducting from the American Band College at Southern Oregon University. He is a National Board Certified Teacher. Mr. McGuire serves as Concert Performance Assessment Site Chairman for the SCBDA and Solo and Ensemble Site Chairman. His professional affiliations include the South Carolina Band Directors Association, the South Carolina Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, the National Band Association, the American School Band Directors Association, and Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity.

Mr. McGuire is the orchestra director at First Baptist Church of Rock Hill. Mr. McGuire loves traveling in his RV with his wife Kerri (the Ph.D. in the family), his horseback-riding daughter Chloe, and his soccer-loving daughter Sophie.

Melissa Burroughs is a new member of the Northwestern band staff this year as Associate Director of Bands. She is a National Board Certified Teacher EMC Music, holding a BA in Music and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Winthrop University, where she has also taught as an adjunct professor and St-Arts Summer Arts Program instructor. She is an Orff-Certified Educator focusing on elemental music and movement with her levels of education from Winthrop University, George Mason University, and Villanova University.

Her teaching career is very diverse and includes teaching from the elementary to college levels. She has taught private horn instruction for many years and has most recently been a member of the band staff for Catawba Ridge High School since its inception in 2019. She was recognized as Teacher of the Year at Lesslie Elementary 2011-2012 and Dolby’s Bridge Elementary 2019-2020. She was a district finalist for Fort Mill District Teacher of the Year in 2019-2020.

She has traveled and served as a clinician, sharing her original, innovative teaching ideas for Arizona Orff, New England Orff, Wyoming Orff, Lexington 5 Music, and Piedmont NC Orff. She has presented at the National Orff Schulwerk Conference and the state conferences for Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina.

On the side, Melissa owned the Flipped Family Food Truck with her family from 2021-2024. She is now the Food Truck Manager (also 2023) for Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps, where she marched mellophone in the ‘97 and ‘98 seasons. 

Melissa enjoys spending time with her family (husband-Ben, daughters-Mykah and Jonah) and traveling. Her hero is Mr. Rogers.

As a professional musician, Josh Walker has worked in the Carolina region for 20 years, including as percussionist with the Charlotte, Charleston, and Union Symphonies. He has performed with Andrea Bocelli, the Moody Blues, Manhattan Transfer, The Four Tops, Natalie Cole, and many other artists. Josh frequently performs on timpani, drum set, jazz vibes, marimba, and ethnic and orchestral percussion.

As a private instructor, Josh has sent students to All-Region and All-State honor bands in South and North Carolina, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and colleges such as University of Cincinnati, Winthrop University, Furman University, the University of South Carolina, UNC Greensboro, and North Carolina School of the Arts.

As a composer and arranger Josh has recently recorded, produced, and released an album of his jazz-influenced arrangements of classic hymns. It is entitled Reimagined: Classic Hymns for a Modern Audience. He also writes music exclusively and non-exclusively for several music libraries.

Josh studied at Winthrop University where he earned a Bachelor of Music Performance in 1998 and a Master of Music Performance in 2001.

He and his wife, Michelle, live in Fort Mill, SC with their daughter.

Will Ellison is a native of Easley, SC where he began his band journey as a trumpet player in the sixth grade. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Winthrop University with his Bachelor of Music Education. While at Winthrop, Mr. Ellison was awarded the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award and was named Outstanding Music Graduate by the music faculty. He is extremely excited to be teaching at Dutchman Creek Middle School and to continue the legacy of high-quality music education for which the school is known. Outside of DCMS, you can see Mr. Ellison assisting the Northwestern High School Marching Band: "The Purple Regiment," playing trumpet in the orchestra at First Baptist Church Rock Hill, or cheering on the Winthrop Eagles basketball team. You should also ask him about his quest to read a biography of every US President. He maintains professional affiliations with the National Association for Music Education, the South Carolina Music Educators' Association, and the South Carolina Band Directors' Association, and is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity.

Ryan W. Tinker, an NHS alumnus, serves as a program consultant and band staff member for the Northwestern band program after stepping down in 2020 as the Associate Director of Bands. Prior to his appointment at Northwestern, Mr. Tinker served as the Director of Bands at Charlotte Catholic High School from 2012 to 2014 and as an Assistant Director of Bands at York Comprehensive High School from 2010 to 2012. He received a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of South Florida, where he served as a graduate assistant for the USF Bands. At USF, Mr. Tinker studied conducting with Dr. John C. Carmichael and Dr. William Wiedrich – and trombone performance with Mr. Tom Brantley. In the spring of 2022, he co-founded and became the co-conductor of the Catawba River Winds, a community band for York County.

Mr. Tinker received his Bachelor of Music with Emphasis in Music Education and Trombone Performance from the University of South Carolina. While at USC, he studied trombone with Dr. Brad Edwards and conducting with Dr. Rebecca Phillips, Dr. Andrew Gowan, Dr. David O'Shields, and Mr. James Copenhaver. Mr. Tinker received the Robert Van Doren Award (2008) and the Cantey Award of Excellence (2007), the two highest and most prestigious awards given by the USC School of Music to an undergraduate with outstanding musical, academic, and leadership skills.  

Mr. Tinker was a Cadets Drum and Bugle Corpsmember from 2005–2008, playing euphonium and serving as horn sergeant and section leader for the corps. He is also a member of the International Trombone Association, NAFME, Pi Kappa Lambda, NBA, SCMEA, SCBDA, Phi Beta Mu, and is a South Carolina Teaching Fellow. He received an honorary membership into Kappa Kappa Psi in recognition of his outstanding contributions and dedication to the University of South Florida bands. In addition to serving at Northwestern HS as a band consultant and auditorium manager, Mr. Tinker now works as an IT professional in the private sector. Mr. Tinker lives in Rock Hill, SC with his wife Katie, a math teacher at Northwestern High School, and their son, Callan.