Mr. Canales was born on July 5th, 1974, in Fort Worth, Texas. He lived in Euless for about the first 10 years of his life. He was the youngest of 3 other siblings raised by his mom. He didn’t have a father growing up but plenty of his friends families made sure to be a figure for him. They sure made sure he got his butt kicked when he did something dumb. In October of 1984, he moved to Haltom City where he attended Haltom Highschool. He graduated from Haltom in 1992 and went to University of Texas at Arlington for his music scholarship. After UTA, he went to Tarrant County College. After that, he ended up at University of North Texas where he took another 10 years to get his music degree. Before coming to YMLA, Mr. Canales taught at Morningside and Polytechnic Highschool.

Mr. Canales is YMLA’s amazing band teacher. He teaches scholars from grades 6-12. When he came to our school in 2018, he was seeking a new school to teach at because Polytechnic was changing too much. When he first saw the YMLA, he loved the uniformity and the fact he could be here all day. Getting to talk to Mr. White and Mr. Walker was the cherry on top that sold him. Something that Mr. Canales believes makes YMLA special is the Pre-Covid culture and our attempt to rebuild it. A fun fact about Mr. Canales is that he is fluent in 7 instruments.

As a teacher, Mr. Canales belives that it’s his duty to teach his students how to be young adults as well as how to play an instrument. He gets here early and stays here late. He is here for his students. Former students of Mr. Canales have called him a “harsh” teacher. But honestly he just dosen’t sugarcoat the truth. He tells it to you how it is. He believes that this prepares students for the real world.

Teaching has helped him grow greatly as a musician. He says that it helps you remember all of the little things and it helps you break habits. It has also helped him develop as a leader. After all, getting people from 6th grade to 12th grade to work together is certainly a challenge. His goals for the 25/26 school year are 1’s at UIL for middle school and maybe a joint concert with YWLA. The band has earned 3 plaques at UIL since Mr Canales was here and 1 that was here before him.

Lastly, A quote that Mr. Canales lives by is, “Pain is temporary, but Glory lasts forever.”