Clayton Lash is a current senior who is involved in each music ensemble that Hamburg has to offer. Trombone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, drums, guitar, piano, and trumpet are the instruments he can play. He is involved in band, choir, orchestra, marching band, jazz band, chamber strings, aerial boundaries, drama club, musical, and Tri-M honor society. He is president of Tri-M and the bands. He joined the orchestra in third grade and band in fourth grade, the other activities coming in high school.
Clayton’s inspiration comes from his musician great-grandfather, who used to play with Clayton before he passed away in 2020. That same year Clayton received his grandfather’s guitar with a note expressing how proud he was of how far Clayton had come. Music is his escape from reality. He connects easily to music as some people do English or math, which means his focus has always been music and he takes the minimal requirements for normal studies while packing his schedule full of any music class offered. He currently performs outside of the school district singing mainly country music, his favorite, while playing the guitar.
His plans include attending Penn State University, majoring in music education, and being a part of the Blue Band, Penn State’s marching band. Music, being his entire life, was always the plan for his future, but education came later. He is currently teaching at the elementary school, which has shown how much he enjoys teaching others. Clayton is teaching at the elementary school through a professional field experience program, or PFE, where he spends half of his day learning from a Hamburg teacher to earn credits toward graduation while also preparing for his future.
