A Bit About Chance
Chance is a 2005 Westview graduate who went on to study music education at Ball State University.
He began his journey as a band director at Manchester Community Schools in 2010, where he founded the annual "Christmas Fantasy" holiday pops concert, founded the Squire Jazz Band, and developed the marching band into a bronze medalist in the Esprit de Corps division at Indiana State Fair Band Day. He was also an essential member of the theatre team, helping bring productions of "The Music Man", "Miss Saigon", "Once on this Island, Jr.", "Guys and Dolls, Jr.", and "Jesus Christ Superstar" to life.
After leaving Manchester in 2012, Mr. Varner moved to the Orlando, FL area with his wife and spent several years as a performing jazz musician on his beloved tenor saxophone, Sara.
In 2014, Chance moved to Henryville, IN to become the Director of Bands after their long-serving director retired. During his tenure at Henryville, the Golden Marching Band returned to state finals for the first time since the 1980's, and the music program grew to be a 3 time finalist and 2 time back-to-back champion in winter marching percussion, more than 50 students qualified for state solo and ensemble, and the program was a gold medalist in both concert band and jazz band competition multiple years. Additionally, he helped found the Henryville Theatre program, which grew to have over 60 students by the end of its second year.
In 2018, Mr. Varner moved back home to be near his mother as she fought a losing battle with breast cancer. During this time, he served as an English teacher at both Prairie Heights and Westview High schools, along with being a technology director at LaGrange First United Methodist Church. He remained active and involved in Prairie Heights' theatre program - including writing the "film-noir-styled-Sherlock-Holmes" screenplay "221B" in 2020. During his tenure at LaGrange First UMC, he also wrote and produced the Christmas Eve Radio Show that was used for Christmas Eve worship during the COVID quarantine.
In 2022, Mr. Varner took over as the Director of Bands at Lakeland Jr/Sr High School, and he is looking forward to bringing new energy, opportunities, and success to the Laker Music Program, and LaGrange County as a whole.