Cody McKesson is the Sedona-Oak Creek School District’s orchestra and music teacher and also serves as the head coach of the Sedona Red Rock High School varsity cross country team.

“All you need to know about me is I do music, teaching and I run, that’s all I do,” McKesson said.

McKesson finished second in the Babbitt’s Backyard Ultra ultramarathon that took place in Flagstaff at the end of September. The race format involves running a four-mile loop, starting the loop over at the beginning of the next hour and repeating the process until one runner is left standing. McKesson ran a total of 133.344 miles during that event.

“Over the summer, I did a 100-mile race and I was like telling the kids, if you join [the cross-country team], you can run 100 miles one day,” McKesson said. “A kid will go and play basketball, [but] you don’t say, ‘I’m going to go play running,’” McKesson said. “I go out and I run on trails but for me, I’m not running on the trails, I’m playing on the trail. It’s how I connect to nature, how I feel happy. It makes me feel like a kid again [with] no responsibilities out in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness.”

“His vision for expanding the orchestra program and bringing a passion for music to our students is clear, and he will certainly be successful,” SRRHS Principal Heather Isom said. “His enthusiasm for improvement is evident in his classes and with his long-distance team. He is focused, encouraging and understands his ability to change lives. The kids love and respect him because they know he is committed to them. We are truly lucky to have him.”

McKesson was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., and grew up in Dawson, Minn., where his high school graduating class had 30 students in it. He later became a substitute teacher in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“I’m drawn to smaller towns because the communities are always more supportive, and if they have music programs, if they’re lucky enough to have them, they’re always super supportive because they usually want to keep them,” McKesson said. “That’s the way it was in my small town. We had band, choir, orchestra and musicals in a town of 1,500.”

It was the local high school’s production of “Les Misérables” that first inspired him to become a music teacher when he was in fourth grade and also sparked his interest in conducting.

“I loved watching the pit orchestra play and being conducted even more than even the vocal portion of the performance,” McKesson said. “I was focused on the director the whole time. I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to wave my arms and lead an orchestra when I’m older.’”

McKesson feels that he still displays his inner child throughout the day as he teaches every grade in SOCSD.

“All day, I have three different personalities at the elementary school. It’s all about setting classroom procedures and being more strict with that,” McKesson said. “It’s about learning the general aspects of music, like how to count rhythms. Middle school, it’s a growing program. Last year, when I started, there was nine people in it and now there’s 20. With that, it’s trying to get them recruited. High school is where we get to get into the depth of music and play classical, Mozart, Bach, as well as some pop music.”

“We really enjoy having Mr. McKesson at West Sedona School and on our campus. He teaches music to students in kindergarten [through] fifth grade,” West Sedona School Principal Elizabeth Tavasci said. “He does a great job with the students, even the littles, and engages them in many fun musical learning activities and games.”

Kindergarten- through second-grade musical instruction is focused on percussion instruments and activities that require little hand-eye coordination.

“From third grade to fifth grade they’re learning the violin,” McKesson said. “If I can teach them how to play the at least the violin, when they’re elementary, they’ll be more inclined to join it here at the high school, because they already have the basics down of how to hold the violin and how to use a bow.”

McKesson’s professional goals are to continue to grow the orchestra program and to learn about every student in the district.

“One of the things that excites me is seeing the students in line for lunch at West Sedona School and realizing that before I know it, I’ll get a chance to teach them at the high school,” McKesson said.

His personal goal is to run the Black Canyon Ultra 100k in Mayer in February. He also recently introduced the Swedish concept of “plogga,” or picking up garbage while jogging, to the crosscountry team.

“I was out running and noticed how littered our highways are here. It was very sad to see,” McKesson wrote on social media. “Consider packing a garbage bag on your next walk or jog. We are better than this.”

McKessson’s also in the process of fund raising for the Sedona Oak-Creek Educational Foundation in preparation for the Cocodona 250 race in May to learn more and to contribute visit runsignup.com/runcodyrun.