Falcon Pride Staff
Luke Aylsworth - Design Consultant
Luke is a percussion arranger/composer, show designer, adjudicator, and consultant across the nation. His bands have placed in the top five at the Indiana State Music Association State Marching Band Finals since 2006 including three ISSMA Class D State Championships (2010, 2016, and 2017) and five State Championship Runner-Up finishes (2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). In 2009, The Springs Valley Blackhawk Brigade was a Bands of America Grand Nationals Semi-Finalist and placed 3rd in Class A. The Springs Valley Winter Winds ensemble also won the 2021 IndianaPercussion Association State Championship in Winds Scholastic A class. uke has a Master’s of Science in Music Technology and a Bachelor’s of Music Education degree from Indiana University. While at IU, Luke studied with Gerald Carlyss, Wilbur England, James Strain, and Jim Ancona. Luke has arrangements and compositions published by Tapspace, Row-Loff Productions., Hober Reber Productions LLC, and CounterMotion Marching Designs. Luke is a member of the Vic Firth Education Team and the D'Addario (Evans Drumheads) Education Collective. Luke is also the Technical Support Administrator for the Virtual Drumline: 2.5 Sound Library, a product of Tapspace Publications. Luke has been a design consultant for the Falcon Pride for 2 seasons.
Eric Berger - Drill Designer
Eric Berger has extensive experience in designing for marching bands, having been represented in the ISSMA State Marching Championships every year since 1991. His designs include a BOA Grand National Class A Champion, several BOA Regional Champions, five ISSMA State Champions, a Fiesta Bowl Champion, and many other achievements and titles. Having written for all sizes and levels of programs throughout the United States, Eric has gained an understanding of what works for kids and programs and how to go about designing a successful product. His shows are known for their effect while having a common sense approach to teaching and cleaning in a way to positively impact students. Eric has designed for the Falcon Pride for 4 seasons.
Amanda Paschen - Visual Caption Head
Mrs. Paschen graduated from North Posey in southern Indiana in 2010. Her high school marching band was a continual Class D State Finalist, reaching 5th place in 2009! She attended Ball State University from 2010 to 2014, majoring in music education. There, Amanda participated in many music ensembles including the Pride of Mid-America marching band for four years. She teched for a local high school in the track band circuit - Monroe Central - which was just starting its program again after a long hiatus. She began teaching in 2015 at Oregon-Davis as the band director and general music teacher. Paschen teched at LaVille and John Glenn in 2016 and 2017, both being semi-state finalists. In 2018 she became the assistant band director at Fairfield and general music teacher at Benton Elementary. In the five total years Amanda worked at Fairfield, they were state finalists every year - reaching second place in Class D in 2021. She has been working at Walkerton Elementary As the general music teacher since 2024. She returned to the Falcon Pride marching band in the Fall of 2022 and has continued to work alongside the staff and program. She became the visual caption head in 2025 and has elevated the visual strength of the program to new heights! Amanda is excited to continue growing elevating the excellence of the Falcon Pride!
Derrick Zaczek - Visual Staff
Derrick is a 2008 graduate of Gobles High School in Gobles, Michigan and a United States Air Force Veteran, 11 years active duty and currently a traditional reservist going on 2 years. He is currently in his 15th year of marching band instructing. He began teaching brass at Gobles High School for 3 years. During that time, he marched in the band at Western Michigan University, 2 years in the mellophone section and 1 year in the tuba section. After enlisting into the military, he would come back to instruct brass and visual during band camps a Laville Schools for 7 years. He has been instructing brass and visual for the Falcon Pride for 4 years. He has made the switch to just visual for the 2025 season and moving forward to bring a stronger, more disciplined marching technique to the Falcon Pride.
Brooke Talaga - Color Guard Director
Brooke Talaga, a 2021 graduate of Northridge High School in Middlebury, Indiana, is the Color Guard Director and has proudly served in this role for the past two years. She began her marching arts experience in middle school, participating in marching band before discovering color guard in the winter of her seventh-grade year. Brooke performed with the Lanier County High School Color Guard program in Lakeland, Georgia from seventh through eleventh grade, in which she placed 2nd place at State Championship in 2019 with her winter guard group and completed her final guard season at Northridge High School her senior year. Brooke specializes in rifle and saber and brings a strong focus on both technical development and performance quality. She is passionate about color guard and committed to helping students grow as confident performers in a positive, supportive, and structured environment. She is excited to keep bringing excellence to the Falcon Pride Marching Band and Winter Guard programs!