Guard Staff

Being the child of a band director, Justin’s love for music and performing sprouted at a very early age.  Originally from Heflin, AL, he adopted the alto saxophone as his first instrument of choice and attended various local and regional honor bands throughout high school, receiving top placements.  Justin went on to attend Jacksonville State University and join The Marching Southerners colorguard (‘06, ‘07).  Afterwards, he performed with Eastern Shore Independent winterguard (‘10) based in Pensacola, FL.  Justin most recently completed 5 consecutive seasons with Paramount World winterguard (‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18) based in Atlanta, GA.  He is currently on staff with Paramount Winterguard, Spirit of Atlanta Drum Corps, and Southwind Drum Corps.

Thomas Funk, a native of Cape May, New Jersey, began colorguard as a family affair. Growing up, they were immersed in the northeastern colorguard community through the love of their mother Lori, who taught and worked with numerous programs in the area.

Thomas’ official start within colorguard came several years later in 2012 as a performer with the Spirit of McIntosh Marching Band. Following, Thomas spent their 2014 and 2015 summers on tour as a member of Spirit Of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps. The love of their corps extended throughout the winter as a performing member with the 2014 Spirit of Atlanta Winterguard. In 2015, Thomas began their journey with Paramount World Winterguard, where they have remained a member for 5 seasons. Thomas also marched a season with Reverie Open in 2018.

Thomas has taught, choreographed, and consulted for a multitude of programs throughout the southeast including Fayette County High School, Soddy Daisy High School, North Forsyth High School, and Walton High School, among others. Thomas is very excited to continue their drum corps career from the “other side” and give back to the sport that has given them so much throughout the years.

Tyler Garcia, a native of Fayetteville, NC, began his performing experience with the Cape Fear High School Marching
Band in 2010-2014. He started his color guard career at Aria Winter Guard in 2015 where they went on to be WGI
Open Class Finalists. In the following winter seasons, Tyler performed with Aria Winter Guard, First Flight World and
Etude 2019; in which he was a featured performer, and became a WGI World Class Finalist. He intends on continuing
his marching career with Etude. Tyler began his DCI journey with the Madison Scouts in 2015, 2016, 2017 along with
his age out season in 2018. He had the honor of performing as a highlighted member, and also served as color guard
captain his final summer.
Tyler currently teaches for the Cleveland Arts Performance Ensembles from Clayton, North Carolina. Cleveland HS is
a consistent BOA and WGI Open Class finalist. He has choreographed for various high school programs including
Dobyns-Bennet from Kingsport, Tennessee. In the past, Tyler has had the privilege of working with other groups such
as Jack Britt HS, Terry Sanford HS and Swift Creek Middle School.
Tyler is a recent graduate of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, with a degree in Mass Communications
with a focus in Public Relations. His passion and love for teaching the performing arts has presented him many
opportunities, and he cannot wait to spend the 2020 season with the Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps.

From Nashville, Tn, Kris began his marching career at McGavock High School, a part of the colorguard for 3 years. He began his independent career in 2012 with Eklipse Winterguard, going on to march 5 years with the organizations. He later went on to become a part of the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps for the 2014, 2016 & 2017 summers, and is going into his fourth year with Paramount Winterguard from Atlanta, Ga. Aside from performing and teaching, he also has an interest in the fashion industry, and is working on building a career as a model. Kris has worked with many colorguards in the Tennessee and Georgia areas, and is excited to get back into the world of drum corps, this time from the other side!

Devon Kugler is a South Florida native that now lives in Atlanta, Georgia where she continues to further her passion for teaching and performing color guard. After being a member of the West Broward HS Color Guard, she marched for five seasons as a part of Braddock Independent World (2012 – 2016) and took part in her college’s color guard at Florida International University as well. After completing her Bachelors degree in Communication Arts, Devon relocated to Atlanta to perform with Paramount World where she has now been a member for three seasons (2017, 2019, 2020).
While living in Florida, Devon taught color guard at various high schools (McArthur HS, Coral Gables HS) and at her collegiate alma mater (FIU). Devon currently teaches for the marching band and indoor color guard program, River Ridge High School, in Woodstock, GA. This will be Devon’s second season on staff with Southwind as a color guard technician.
Devon is thrilled to be a part of this season of the Southwind legacy and is looking forward to seeing what this summer will bring!

My name is Carlos M. Alicea Quiñones, I’m 21 years old and I come from Puerto Rico. I’m studying Music Education in the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico in San Germán with a major in wood winds. I march with Music City Drum & Bugle Corps in 2018-2019. I am the first Puerto Rican to did Age Out in Drum Corps International. I studied from 2009-2015 in the Fine Arts School Ernesto Ramos Antonini in Yauco, graduating with a specialization in Music and Saxophone in middle school and high school. I perform in I&E with the Alto Saxophone and I won the second place for two years 2018-2019. I perform in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California in 2019 and in Disneyland representing Puerto Rico. I’m a Colorguard Instructor and choreographer in differents guards teams in Puerto Rico. I’m creating Colorguard Clinics in Puerto Rico from 2018-present and I made the first winter guard in Puerto Rico which I direct as Director and Caption Head in “Puerto Rico Royalty “, making the first performing in WGI Costa Rica. I have had the privilege of being able to attend summer Workshops at Colorguard and Drum Major (George and Parks Drummajor Academy) at the West Chester University in Pennsylvania in 2016-2017 and be certified by Vivace Productions. I won the First Colorguard edu scholarship of Marching Arts Education 2019.

Jaylen Ray, 21, from Indianapolis,Indiana marched in the 2016 & 2018 season of Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps. He is currently completing his BFA in Contemporary Dance at Indiana University Bloomington. While his degree program places a focus on contemporary modern techniques he often explores many other forms such as; Traditional & Contemporary African, Release, Hip Hop, House, Vogue and more. Jaylen is excited to join the growing staff of Southwind.

Sherilyn is entering her fourth year on the Southwind colorguard staff. She started her colorguard career in 2004 with the Escambia High School Colorguard. After graduating in 2008, she decided to pursue another aspect of colorguard, dance. She has furthered her dance training through conventions, dance workshops, dance productions, and classes. In 2013, Sherilyn was a member of the WGI Independent World Percussion bronze medalists, Music City Mystique, as 1 of 4 featured dancers in their show entitled, “Taboo”. Sherilyn is currently a dance teacher for a local dance studio in Pensacola and she is part of a local dance production company called, Perdido Performing Arts Productions. In addition, she is a movement consultant and choreographer for many groups across the gulf coast. Sherilyn graduated from the University of West Florida with her Bachelors in Psychology in 2013. She currently resides in Pensacola, Florida with husband, Jerry and their dog, Sabian.

Patrice Turner attended McNeese State University and joined The Pride of McNeese Marching band colorguard in 2008 until 2012. She has received her associates, bachelor’s, and Masters’s degrees from Mcneese State University. While attending McNeese she was a member of several Louisiana based winter guard programs such as Saints Independent (2011), Fais Do-Do (2012), and La’Acadians Winter guard (2013-2014). In 2015 She began her own World Class Winter guard group, Lake Area Independent Winterguard, which is still going strong today. In addition to teaching in Louisiana, she has taught at various Open and World Class drum corps. Groups include Louisiana Stars Drum and Bugle Corps (2016) where she was a Colorguard Choreographer and Technician, Shadow Drum and Bugle Corps (2017) where she was Colorguard Caption Head, Music City Drum and Bugle Corps (2018) in the role of Weapon Technician and Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps (2019) as a Dance and Flag Technician. Her passion for marching arts is very evident and she is excited to begin the journey with Southwind.