Working for thirty-six years in a career may seem like a formidable challenge, but it is exactly what Kingman High School Choir and Madrigals director Mr. Roy Wright has accomplished. Mr. Wright has been a revered teacher at Kingman for 20 years and has decided retire at the conclusion of the 2010 school year. Although they wish Mr. Wright a pleasant retirement, many students have expressed their displeasure at the loss of one of the most seasoned teachers in the school.

Mr. Wright attended high school at Mulvane, where he participated in many activities, including sports, band (in which he played the French Horn), choir, National Honors Society, and Kansas Association for Youth, a club which he says just about every high school in the state except for Kingman has. After high school, he attended college at Wichita State University and then went on to Southwestern College. He originally planned to go into a career teaching math and science but eventually switched to music. The KHS choir director says he first showed a defined interest in music around the age of five or six when he became an active participant in the music at his church.

Mr. Wright, when asked about his first teaching job, which began his 15 years teaching at Andover High School, stated that it was "brutal." He was unaware of the fact that he was supposed to teach a music theory class and a guitar class until he showed up to work. He says he was a lot tougher and stricter back then and that now he has relaxed his policies quite a bit. However rough that first year was, Andover remains his favorite job that he's had.

Not only has Mr. Wright taught a broad spectrum of music, he has also witnessed and taken part in performing it. He had the privilege of performing in the only college production of the Bernstein Mass. Mr. Wright also performed in Wichita State University ensembles and the National Convention of Music Educators. He took part in an American Choir competition in Italy and in the Ecuador competition of the Americas. He says most interesting (and coincidentally, also the farthest away) performance he has ever taken part in was at Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. Mr. Wright's favorite type of music is classic rock 'n' roll, and his favorite performance that he attended is Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

After he retires, Mr. Wright plans to "be a bum" and take things easy by fishing and hunting. As of now, Mr. Wright says he will stay in Kingman. He also says that if KHS has a Madrigals Feaste next year, he will probably attend. Additionally, if the Kingman High School Choir continues to make annual trips to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, he won't purposely go on the same day, but he won't avoid the students either; when he goes, it will completely independent of what KHS has planned.

Mr. Wright recalls that his most awkward performance moment was when a girl passed out on stage which resulted in a severe wardrobe malfunction. His most memorable encounter with a student was when a girl called him "dude" and he replied, "that's Mr. Dude to you", which is what she continued to call him from then on. As many Kingman High School students connected with Facebook are probably aware, there is a fanpage dedicated to Kingman High School Choir Director Mr. Roy Wright. The students are not the only ones knowledgeable about the page; Mr. Wright says that he is, in fact, aware of its existance, but doesn't enjoy it because it makes him "too easy to find."