Robert Plunkett’s love for music and band turned into a full-time career.
Robert Plunkett, originally from Kosciusko, grew up in a home with like-minded parents — J.D. and Violet Plunkett, who shared and passed down their knowledge and love for music to their son.
“My father was the choir director for the church and my mother would play the piano while father directed,” said Plunkett.
Plunkett grew up in the Williamsville community and attended Williamsville Baptist Church, where he grew up watching his mother and father fellowship through music.
In fifth grade, Plunkett tried out for the beginner band at East Side Elementary school. His chosen instrument was the trombone.
“I was at Eastside, and we had a beginner band. Starting in the fifth grade, John McCauley was my director,” he said.
After attending Eastside Elementary School, Plunkett transferred to Kosciusko Junior High where he was part of the junior high band. At the time, John Weems was the junior high band director.
According to Plunkett, the transition from the elementary beginner band to the junior high band was a bit different because the junior high band was much bigger.
Plunkett stayed in the junior high band for a year before trying out for the high school band.
“There was certain requirement to be in the high school band,” Plunkett recalled.
Plunkett discovered the requirements needed to successfully maintain a spot as a trombone player in the Big Red Band, and he did just that.
During the time that Plunkett was in high school, the band didn’t have marching competitions, but he does have one memory that he holds dearly.
“I remember at Christmastime there used to be a Delta Band Festival in Greenwood, Mississippi. That use to be a very big deal and over 100 bands from across the state would come to Greenwood,” said Plunkett. “We got to get out of school the whole day to go, and that was a big deal.”
Plunkett also had fond memories of being in the Lions Band his sophomore through his senior year.
“The Lions Band is an elite group to get into,” he said. “You have band directors that judged us individually, so you had to be able to perform to those standards at a higher level.”
All of Plunkett’s training, discipline, and experience through the band helped him when it came time to pick a career path.
After graduating in 1971, Plunkett went to the University of Southern Mississippi. Plunkett finished his education at Mississippi State where he received a bachelor’s degree in music.
After graduating, Plunkett’s first band director job was in the South Jackson area.
“If I hadn’t been in the band, I would have never been a band director,” said Plunkett. “It would have been impossible to be able to be a band director without being in the band, I wouldn’t have had any prior experience and such to fall back on to be able to teach.”
According to Plunkett, he taught for one year as a band director in the South Jackson area and decided he would come back to Kosciusko and work.
“It wasn’t a very positive first experience,” he recalled. “They prepare you as much as they can in college, but there is no way to prepare you in what all come with teaching.”
After much thought, Plunkett knew his heart was still in teaching and being a band director. He heard about an opening in Calhoun City and took the chance.
“I went to Calhoun City, and I just started loving what I was doing as a band director and a teacher,” he said. “I taught there for 12 years, and I grew up there.”
Plunkett went straight into being the only band director at Calhoun City and used a lot of his own personal experiences from being in the Big Red Band and Lions Band to teach his students.
Plunkett worked with Calhoun City schools for over 12 years and then went on to teach and direct at Northeast Community College in Booneville.
In 2008, Plunkett retired, and he currently resides in Ripley, Mississippi. Plunkett is planning a trip to Kosciusko this June to see the Lions Band perform.
