Ashanti Sims is West Point School of Music’s Director of Music Education and Clarinet Instructor. She began her musical studies at the age of 13 under the tutelage of her mentor Julian J. Champion, Executive Director of West Point School of Music.

Upon entering high school, she auditioned and was accepted to the Chicago High School for the Arts where she continued to excel in her musical studies, receiving superior and excellent ratings at regional and state contests. During this period, she studied Clarinet with Dr. Rose Sperrazza, Professor of Clarinet at Northeastern Illinois University and leader of the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. She also sat under the tutelage of Mr. Cory Tiffin, principal of the Las Vegas Philharmonic with whom she further developed her skill and craft as a clarinetist. During her college years, she studied privately with Mr. Gene Collerd, principal of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.

In her role at West Point, Ashanti helps to raise awareness of the critical need for music education in the environment and maturation of urban children. West Point is proud to have one of its own as an essential part of its team.

Beaushay Norton began his formal study of music at age 11 under the tutelage of Julian J. Champion, and is a graduate of West Point School of Music. He studied the Trombone and Euphonium and played with the Evergreen Park High School Band, the Merit Wind Symphony, and the Red Shield Concert Band. He is a proud graduate of the Urban Prep Academy — Englewood Campus.  Beaushay studied Jazz Performance at University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition, he is a licensed commercial truck driver and is also an Army Reserve bandsman with the 484th Army Band out of Arlington Heights, IL and Milwaukee, WI.

In his current position as Facilities & Shops Manager, Beaushay oversees the maintenance, organization, and daily operations of West Point School of Music’s facilities and instrument shop. He manages equipment care and repair, supports the preparation of instruments for rehearsals and performances, and leads renovation efforts for West Point’s new program space. In addition to his operational responsibilities, Beaushay serves as the low brass coach for West Point’s Urban Music Makers program and performs as a cello panist with Epic Steel Orchestra.

West Point considers Beaushay as a perfect representative of its mission. His daily involvement helps young West Pointers discover purpose and meaning for their lives.

Manasseh Champion is a gifted trumpeter and hip hop artist on the local Chicago music scene. A graduate of the William Jones College Preparatory High School in downtown Chicago, Champion is truly in love with urban life and music. He commenced his musical studies at the age of seven, quickly adopting his father’s instrument, the trumpet. He played throughout elementary and high school with a variety of concert, jazz and orchestral ensembles.

In adulthood, Manasseh has taken his focus and discipline into the area of mechanics. After training to be a diesel mechanic at Universal Technical Institute, he was able to secure employment at Norfolk Southern, a Fortune 300 company.

As a hip hop artist, Manasseh performs under the sobriquet “Doso”. His performances are energetic and strong with cutting, contemplative lyrics.

Manasseh currently works for West Point as the High Brass instructor and enjoys teaching young musicians, suggesting that he inherits his passion for helping young people from the work he has seen his father devoted to over the years.

Coming from a musical family, James Russell Sims started playing drums at the age of 3. He studied under the direction of Greg Barksdale, Kristen Regester, and Jarrett Hicks prior to attending Chicago High School for the Arts where he continued his musical studies.

James graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign with a Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Performance where he studied with Joel Spencer. He currently plays with jazz, hip hop, and R&B artists throughout the Midwest.

James currently works as a steel drum maker and teaches all concert percussion to eager West Pointers. He plans to continue helping young musicians through West Point School of Music for years to come.

Kayla Sowell, a former West Point School of Music scholar, began her musical studies at the age of 9 under the direction of WPSoM’s President, Mr. Julian J. Champion. Kayla demonstrated exemplary technique on the double lead steel pan as a part of the inaugural pan class held at Kellman Elementary school in 2013.

As a gifted oboist and flutist, Kayla showed tremendous passion for music and the work of this organization from an early age. She attended De La Salle Institute playing in the marching and concert band for the duration of her high school career.

Kayla serves as a member of West Point’s premier performing ensemble, Epic Steel Orchestra and as a Coach specializing in Oboe. Kayla also has a passion for the visual arts, and has taken that passion and poured it into West Point as well. Over the past year and a half, she has been sharpening her editing skills, and gathering content day to day on behalf of her role as Social Media Manager for the West Point team. 

Through her role, Kayla hopes to show the world the very personality of WPSoM; through the candid moments, the emotional moments, behind-the-scenes footage, and so much more.

Ashanti Fleming is the office clerk and French horn coach at West Point School of Music. She began her musical journey at 11 years old in sixth grade, learning to play the French horn and tenor steel pan. 

Alongside a love of music, Ashanti also has a lifelong love for the visual arts, drawing, painting, and animation. So far she’s painted the mural in our music theory room, created a mural with dry-erase markers on the whiteboard in our lunchroom, and even created an animation for our first Pan is Beautiful concert in 2024.

Ashanti is a graduate of Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory High School, where she continued performing under bandmaster Brandon Harding all four years. While there, she played in the CPS Spring Music Festival and concerts while also participating in UIC Honors Band festivals from 2017 through 2019, thanks to West Point.

Her focus is French horn instruction. She aims to invest in and empower today’s urban youth, offering guidance and support as they navigate their own musical journeys, just as West Point has done for her.

Mechella Willis is another product of West Point School of Music. Her introduction to instrumental music instruction came at the tender age of 11 under the direction of Julian J. Champion, Executive Director of the organization. Mechella demonstrated the capacity to lead early on and was named Band Whip for two consecutive years while attending Whistler Elementary.  In this role, she relayed messages to the students on behalf of the Executive Director regarding rehearsals and upcoming events. 

Mechella continued to hone her musical skills while playing in high school at South Shore International College Prep.  While there she studied euphonium and trombone under Mr. Xavier Custodio and was appointed section leader. In addition, she played with a Jazz ensemble for the After School Matters program as well as served as a participant in the UIC Honors Band festivals.  Since her start as a student of West Point, she has remained dedicated to the organization that gave birth to her passion for music.