Life of a Student: Band doesn’t get enough recognition
November 9, 2017
Band. We’re there at every home football and basketball game. Apart from the players, we are first to arrive and last to leave. Band. We have more awards, plaques, and trophies than the WHS varsity, jv, and freshman football teams combined. Band. We put in hours of hard work to go to competitions that 90 percent of the school don’t even know exist.
Now, let’s look at it from the point of view of a student who has never stepped foot in the band room. As far as they know, band is some people dressed in purple uniforms with shiny instruments who play the star-spangled banner at football games and sometimes assemblies. But that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what we do. We are so important to this school, it’s teams, and it’s spirit.
Think about how bland football and basketball games would be without our music. Think about how lame sports teams sendoffs to state would be without the drumline marching them out. Think about how assemblies wouldn’t be peppy without the pep band.
We don’t get enough recognition for what we do. Last year’s yearbook gave us a quarter of a page, a miniscule picture and three sentences. If anyone actually bothered to find that page, they wouldn’t know any more about band than before they had read it. Everyone takes the band for granted, and we have lived with it for long enough.
So the next time you consider going to a basketball game, don’t do it just for the team, but also for the band. The next time you hear an announcement about how we did at one of our competitions, ask us about it. The next time the drumline marches a group off to state, thank them for doing it.
Wenatchee High School, please recognize your band. Because without us, how would anyone recognize you?
Tyler Brown • Nov 16, 2017 at 12:07 am
I would like to respond to the opiniative article, “Life of a Band Student: Band doesn’t get enough recognition”
My name is Tyler Brown, I am a junior trombonist in the golden apple band. For starters, I think that there is a sense of desperateness in this article. I don’t think that the recognition and enjoyment of the band should be forced upon the students of WHS. The band is not obligated to have immediate recognition. We chose to be in the band because of our passion for music, and our willingness to work hard. If you chose to join band to be recognized and appreciated at a higher level, then, all due respect, you chose to be in band for all the wrong reasons.
We work our butts of on the field and in the band room. We truly do. The question that needs to be asked is: why? What ails is to put in all of this extra time in order to make our field show/concert band/parade season that much more successful? I’m not going to answer that question for you. But I just hope it isn’t so you can go tell your friends in chemistry class how hard band is and how you won an award last Saturday. It is supposed to be a self pride thing, a feeling you get when you accomplish something huge with the people you love.
All I ask is that we gain more humbleness within our band. Nobody is making us do what we do. I do ask that the wawa be more mindful about our music groups though. I paid $40 to look back on what I did in high school, and the jazz band wasn’t even included in last years yearbook. I’d prioritize that over dedicating full pages to assemblies that we had throughout the year.
Tyler Brown.
Beth smallbeck • Nov 15, 2017 at 8:51 am
Well said!
Deanna west • Nov 14, 2017 at 8:20 pm
As an athlete and cheerleader in high school I understand the commitment to practice and competition. Now as a parent of a band member I see more commitment and hard work from those kids than I ever recall having had in sports. You are right without their enthusiasm and spirit nothing would be as great without them. As I look back the band was always the motivation of our school spirit. GA band is awesome.