We have a secret weapon in Dublin that many of you may not know about. Within the marching band community, everyone knows he is a force to be reckoned with, but outside of the marching band world, you may not have heard of Willie Shiell.

Willie has always liked music and learned to play the drums at a young age. By the time he got to Wells Middle School he looked up to the older drum majors, including Malcolm Garrison and Ben Young. 

This motivated Willie to practice in his back yard with a broomstick wrapped in electrical tape. He practiced almost every day and attended many summer band camps with other Dublin students on college campuses including San Jose State, Stanford and Sacramento State. 

Willie made his way from assistant drum major in the seventh grade to become the primary drum major in eighth grade. One of the highlights of eighth grade was leading the Wells Marching Band down Main Street in Disneyland. 

The marching band at Dublin High was the next logical step and Willie became the drum major there his sophomore year.

Although he admits to having to brush up on his drum-major skills a few days before competitions, the majority of his time is spent working on his drumming skills for the winter percussion group at Dublin High. Willie said he hopes to join the Blue Devils, a world-class drum and bugle performance team in Concord. 

This year, the Dublin High junior led the band in four competitions that typically include 40 to 50 marching bands. He won the mace category — the staff he carries — for top drum major three times, including the regional event at Foothill High School. 

A group of kids were watching Willie before an event, and one of them said, "Yeah, that's Willie Shiell. He'll probably win today."

In addition to being drum major and a percussionist at Dublin High, this year Willie also conducted Dublin High's field show. This is the first time a field show has been performed at Dublin in 10 years. It was produced by musical director Paul Everts, and set to the music of The Who's "Tommy."

Willie hopes to continue as drum major his senior year.  He also is looking at colleges with strong marching programs, such as San Jose State and Boise State. 

Whatever the future holds for Willie, it will be bright. We are proud of the job he is doing representing his school and city.