Thank you for the scholarship. I am Mandy Schreiner and I go to JL Mann High School. I’m in 10th grade and take all honors and one AP class. I play flute in the school band and outside of school in marching band, I take Spanish 4 Honors. My favorite class is band and my least favorite is Engineering.…
Competition days are long and tiring, but always full of excitement. There is a process as to how the day will go depending on when we perform, where we have to travel, and many other aspects. Most of them start out the same way and go in a similar order every time, but there are always surprises that come along the way during these days. As the day starts on a competition Saturday, the Worthington Kilbourne Marching Band arrives normally in the late morning or early afternoon.…
When she arrived she witnessed blood all over the basement stairs, and evidence of fire in the basement of the house. She started panicking and called…
Adrenaline ran through my veins all day, and Disney references spilling out of my mouth like a broken record in a player. No one else accepted my elation, but I on the other hand, had a countdown down for this jaunt as soon as I heard of it in August. As I sat down on the dirty, sweaty gym floor like the rest of the band, I began to process everything that was happening. In 26 hours, 48 minutes, and 28 seconds, according to my countdown, the entire high school band would be in Orlando, Florida. In four days time, our provincial marching band would be featured marching in a parade in the Magic Kingdom of the happiest place on earth!…
As part of an old high school tradition, hundreds of students crowded into a dimly lit cafeteria and danced until the air hung heavy and sweat glistened off every square inch of exposed skin. The schools that began the tradition of the modern homecoming dance most likely did not expect it to evolve into what it is today; at some point, we, as students, lost the true purpose of the event and instead became preoccupied with image. Even though I would have liked to think that those things did not matter, I still found myself altering my appearance that Saturday night to try and show off the best version of myself. I was not alone; other females joined me amidst a pile of cosmetic products and styling tools, and we had the pictures to showcase…
In high school, I remember where my biggest dream changed into a reality. I was a member of the Greenville High School Tiger Pride Marching Band. I played the alto saxophone. Unlike my bandmates, I did not know how to read music then. I played by ear, and whatever scale, jazz run, or chromatic I heard, I could play it back just like that.…
The first risk I ever took was the one that completely changed my life. My middle school band directors were discussing marching band. I asked when the meeting was, and so I went. I didn't know a single thing about marching band or what it even entailed. I joined on a whim because my friends were doing it, and I wanted something to do that summer.…
When I think about dance teams, I don't necessarily think of the dancing concept but rather the friendships and the memories made. Most people feel most confident and accustomed to what they live with everyday, making life changing decisions very difficult to make. Me being one. I danced on a Competitive Dance Team called Dance Dynamics, and never expected to ever leave. I was brought up a question by my former dance teacher asking if I ever considering being on my High School Drill team.…
When we have marching band season, we sit in the bleachers at football games, cheering for our teams and singing songs with my friends. These are one of the many fond memories I have about the season. Fall is the best because of marching band, weather that is just right, and gorgeous leaves falling on the ground. Of the three reasons I love fall, marching band season is my favorite.…
From the start of my four year commitment to football and marching band I saw leadership all around me. My first summer of football my freshman year the seniors were prime examples of leadership. They were right there to correct form on our lifts, blocks, and set the overall example of what it meant to be a Mead football player. Later that summer I threw in marching band camp to my agenda. The drum major, my sister, lead the band with kept the entire band in order, and worked with us until our sets were flawless.…
I have personally grow as an individual since I took my first steps into high school, from only worrying about school to becoming more involved in my community. Academics has always and will always be my number one focus, but it will not be my only focus. My only focus fas a freshman was my grades because I did not think I could handle extracurricular activities while maintaining excellent grades; however, I was wrong. As the end of freshman year approached, I decided to try out for volleyball and expand my knowledge and interests, which have sparked my involvement in other extracurricular activities my junior year, joining student council, National Honor Society, and DECA. Student council has prepared me for real life situations and has taught…
"Good better best, never let it rest, 'till your good is better and your better is best." These simple words were spoken to me by my high school band director Cheldon Williams on the first day of my high school experience. This, followed by my experience of marching band and my eventual learning of piano sparked a period of introspective thought, and mental growth, that transcended to where I am today. Never in my life did I think my hard work and dedication inspired by Mr. Williams words would land me at Interlochen Center for the Performing Arts Boarding School. These words became a core part of what I am, and from freshman year on would encourage me to never set a limit on my potential, and my overall worth.…
While in middle school every young girl’s dream was to be on the varsity cheer team. While the last week in September we started trying out. I swear that whole week I felt sick and could not eat anything unless I wanted it to come right back up! After school we went straight to practice until 5:30. The older cheerleaders took this to heart and got so mad at us when we started joking around.…
Gretchen, First you are very welcomed, and second I hope you stayed warm during Ben’s game, it was cold for the middle of May. I’ll take advantage of the students having band rehearsal, and get my mom’s lawn mowed and trimmed as it is suppose to be a nice sunny and warm day. Take care, and as always thank you for sharing your students with me. See you on Monday.…
My uncle had owned two clarinets and said that he could give me one of them, so I decided to play the clarinet. The first piece I played in the band was “Can’t take my eyes off from you”, a song sang by Franky Valli. I still can recall the excitement when I first joined rehearsal. I was so impressed and got a tingle. I felt that I finally found what I can be enthusiastic about, and playing in the band became my priority.…