08/28/2026
Our Friday Feature: Her Story at Cathedral celebrates our former band director and beloved friend, Kathy McCullough.
"When I told my mom that I was going to major in music and was going to be a high school band director, she said, 'I didn't know girls could be band directors,'" Kathy says.
For 26 years, not only did Kathy direct the Pride of the Irish Marching Band, she built a program, developed young leaders, opened doors to new experiences, and helped generations of students discover that the greatest success comes when you take ownership of something you love.
A highly accomplished music educator, Kathy earned both her Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from West Virginia University before earning certification in mathematics from Syracuse University. She brought that breadth of knowledge and experience to Cathedral, where she served as Director of Bands from 1997 to 2023. She also taught Music Theory I and II, Applied Music, AP Music Theory, IB Music and Independent Study Music. During her last 10 years on the Hill, she shared her gifts in another discipline, tutoring students in math.
Kathy was named Cathedral Teacher of the Year twice, in 2005 and 2023, and received the YWCA Salute to Women of Achievement Award in Education in 2005. In 2024, she was inducted into the Cathedral High School Circle of Excellence.
She has also spent nearly three decades as a member of Women Band Directors International, where she holds a lifetime membership — a reflection of her commitment not only to music education, but also to the advancement and visibility of women in a traditionally male-dominated field.
Kathy shared a story from the late 90's that still makes her laugh. "At an early marching band contest in 1998, the contest host got on the bus, looked at me, and turned to the male driver and asked, 'Are you the band director?' When the driver pointed to me, the host said, 'I never heard of a LADY band director!'”
Under her leadership, the Pride of the Irish became an integral part of school life, performing at Open House, sporting events, fundraisers, competitions, and downtown Indianapolis parades.
And Kathy thought bigger than the Hill.
She created opportunities for Cathedral students to perform across the country and around the world. The Pride of the Irish traveled to Hawaii, Nashville, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Disneyland, and Hollywood. Most memorably, students performed in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland, four times — in 2000, 2008, 2016, and 2023.
Kathy believed deeply in giving students meaningful opportunities to lead. Drum majors were just the beginning. Section leaders, managers, librarians, and countless other student leadership positions gave students the chance to take responsibility and help shape the program's direction.
Kathy has shared her talents around the country. She served as a guest conductor for the University of Alabama High School Invitational Honor Band. She taught marching band techniques at Butler University and served as a color guard instructor there. She has judged Indiana State School Music Association competitions for decades and has served on adjudication panels across the country.
"Fortunately, over the years, there are more and more women in music education," says Kathy, "and I am honored to be recognized along with the many other women who represented Cathedral over the past 50 years."
For five decades, the women of Cathedral have helped shape the school in countless ways — as educators, coaches, counselors, mentors, artists, administrators and leaders. Their influence can be found not only in the programs they built, but in the young people who learned from their example. Kathy McCullough is one of those women.
Her legacy can be heard in the music of the countless students she taught, seen in the traditions she established, and remembered in the lives of the young people she empowered.
She didn't simply lead the band.
She showed generations of Irish what leadership sounds like — and what it looks like. And her music continues to echo.
With her leading, we shall not tire!
