Witness Post: David Kays

Witness Post: David Kays, Dir. Instrumental Music & CTE Audio Engineering

David Kays has been a revered member of the faculty of Lincoln High School since 2015. He is a Portland native, having grown up in a musical family in SouthEast PDX. His father is a musician and encouraged all five Kays boys to pick an instrument; David, the youngest son, learned to play the French horn. David attended Marysville Elementary, Kellogg Middle School and Franklin High School.

A self-proclaimed “poor student” as a school boy, Mr. Kays had a ton of nervous energy. His “release” was through running. He soon realized he had more endurance than the other kiddos. As the years progressed Kays honed his competitive skills and advanced to become a state champion in the 3,000 meter cross country events. He kept running into adulthood and ran many road races including half marathons and full marathons. He later became a stalwart member of the Oregon Road Runner Club.

David met his wife-to-be, Kathy Landis, in Home Room at Franklin. They both loved to hear themselves talk, so agreed to co-read the “Daily Update” to Franklin students over the morning intercom. It was a hit with the fellow students, who all hushed to hear their humorous remarks. Kathy agreed to hang out with David only after he agreed that he would try harder in class and “stop being a loser.” He won the day.

David took many general studies classes at University of Oregon before buckling down and focusing on music. He earned a Bachelor degree of Music Education from the UofO and a Masters of Music Education from Arizona State University. Mr. Kays loved musicals, travel theater shows, and street busking. To this day he continues to play the French horn. He studied horn with Ed Kammerer at the UofO and with Thomas Bacon at ASU. He has performed with hundreds of musicians in many ensembles: the UofO marching band, turning pages for Philip Farkas’ accompanist, backing up the Canadian Brass, performing in the Tempe Symphony Orchestra, to name just a few.

One of his favorite scores was his transcribed brass quintet version of the Blues Brothers songs from their 1980 movie featuring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. His first assignment was in 1988 as a music teacher at Benson High School, which was soon interrupted by a RIF induced by OR Measure 5. As a music educator Mr. Kays progressed to be the director of bands in many cities in the western states: Gilbert, AZ, Olympia, WA, Los Angeles, CA, Lake Oswego and Gladstone, OR.

In 2011 Mr. Kays was a Yale Distinguished Music Educator, a biennial award given to 50 music educators from around the country, who then participated in a seminar at Yale University. He was the middle school and high school band director for 15 years in the Gladstone School District, before joining the staff at Lincoln in Portland, nine years ago. Mr. Kays treasures the community that music creates and the enthusiasm that it brings people. He has brought an abundance of joy in music, band directorship and audio engineering to Lincoln High School. Often one of the first teachers in the building at Lincoln, David can often be found in his “office” working on classes and tutoring his students.

David Kays was invited by this year’s leadership team at Lincoln to be the graduation speaker to the families and students of the Class of 2024. His talk urged students to Listen carefully to those around them who have true career and life guidance at heart. He encouraged them to “hold your loved ones close,” and remember to grow, to climb and to develop into the people they were meant to be all along. And above all else, Mr. Kays asked students to consider two attributes: Integrity in everything they do and Kindness emanating towards all those they encounter in life.

On June 29, 2024, David and Kathy Kays will celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary. Married in 1985, they have two adult children: Maddie born in 1994 and Everett born in 1999. Their children are both graduates of Cleveland High School, also noted for its music excellence. Kathy was a marketing communications expert, working most of her professional life in the healthcare system for organizations like WEB MD, Providence Health Systems and Biotronic. She retired in 2020.

Now that his knees and hips feel the pounding impact of many running miles, David has become an avid paddle boarder, walker, biker and hiker. In dual retirement, David and Kathy are looking forward to trips to New York City, Palm Springs, California, and the Monterey Bay area. They also look forward to playing more games of Mahjong with their neighbors. After many years of “The Daily Grind,” they promise to spend many more hours focusing on the time they have together.

We sincerely wish them the best!!!