Jared Sessink has been the Director of Bands and Jazz at Garfield High School since 2019. He oversees the activity of all concert band and jazz ensembles.

Sessink’s teaching philosophy is centered in student voice and ownership in the learning process. He teaches through the principles of empathy, perseverance, patience, and joy through music making.

Under his leadership, Garfield has been a frequent participant in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Competition and Festival held in New York City, considered one of the most competitive high school jazz festivals in the nation. Many of his students have gone on to become educators and musicians, at institutions ranging from Berklee School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory, Columbia University, and Manhattan School of Music, and more.

Sessink regularly plays his trumpet in the Magnolia Big Band in Seattle. On Monday evenings, he is the director of the North Seattle Community College Symphonic Band working with adults of all ages. He is a member of the Washington Music Educators Association and National Association of Music Education.

Mike Sundt is the director of Garfield’s Orchestra ensembles.

Mr. Sundt studied music at Central Michigan University and graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education, with a focus in double bass performance. He also has two Masters degrees in Learning & Technology and Curriculum & Instruction.

Prior to joining Garfield, Mr. Sundt taught at Washington Middle School where his jazz ensembles received many local and national awards, including a 2023 award from Downbeat Magazine for "Outstanding Middle School Jazz Ensemble" among bands across the nation. In 2018, he was a quarterfinalist for the Grammy Museum’s “Educator of the Year” award. In 2023, he was the first recipient of the Andy Robertson Memorial Director's Award at the Bellevue High School Jazz Festival.

As a bassist, Mr. Sundt has performed around the region with a variety of ensembles, including the Pacific Cascade Big Band and the Eastside Modern Jazz Orchestra. He is a member of Washington Music Educators’ Association and the National Association for Music Education.

Blake Saunders has been lucky enough to teach Choir, Percussion, and Musical Theater at Garfield High School since 2019. He is the director of Garfield’s three choirs, two percussion classes, and runs all things music for any musical production the theater department puts on.

Saunders centers his classroom in community, collaboration, and communication. Walking into any of is classes, you will see joy, focus, and a lot of noise!

Outside of Garfield, you can see Saunders rocking outside Lumen Field, as he has been a member of the Seahawks Blue Thunder Drumline for the past eleven years.