Studer ready for new adventure

Dr. Seuss famously once suggested to not cry because it’s over, but be happy it happened. 

Loy Studer is trying to take that approach to the end of his 17-year career as Rider’s band and orchestra director.

Simplifying Studer’s near two-decade stint as band director isn’t quite so simple.

“It’s too hard to boil down everything into a favorite memory, but the things I’m proudest of are our kids, what they’ve done and who they become after they leave the program,” Studer said. “We’ve had so many great accomplishments along the way.”

Studer’s next chapter will be the the director of instrumental music at Copperas Cove, a Class 6A school district in Central Texas that borders Fort Hood Army Base and is an hour away from Waco and Austin. Studer will lead and oversee the instrumental music instruction for the entire district. 

The move was made official at the district’s board meeting Tuesday night. Copperas Cove will be the sixth district Studer has been in his 26 years in education, but his alma mater has been his longest stay by far. 

“The reason I came back here is because I love this place, and I love what I was given as a student and I want to give back,” Studer said. “And my mission then was to caretake for Rider, and I think I’ve done that. But yeah, I’m sad about not getting to be at the last Rider-Old High game.” 

Studer said there’s a “really special thing” going on at Rider, and it’s a place he would apply for 1,000 times over again. 

“I never had to worry about support for student success at Rider, we’ve always had an administration that has wanted that to happen,” Studer said.

Despite things appearing outdated on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that matters, and Studer sees the good on the inside of Rider.

“The thing I will miss the most is the people, because the building is a hideous atrocity. Our building’s ugly, but the people are beautiful,” Studer said. “I think that’s the one biggest thing we’ve missed with the new schools, it’s the people. People make the buildings, the buildings don’t make the people. Building a new building is easy, but building a new school is hard.”

Letting go is a part of life, and Studer is well aware of that. After all, it’s not just him who is facing an upcoming large change.

“Change is hard, opportunities come when you don’t expect them to,” Studer said. “We’re all fixing to change, we’re all going to be graduating or about to go to a different school, or whatever it is.

“It doesn’t change what we do at Rider, but there’s always going to be room for new memories too.”