High School Band Graduation

Good evening, parents, teachers, and fellow students. We are here tonight to honor our 8th graders from Heninger Elementary K-8 who have worked very hard to make to it where we are tonight. I’m one of the very lucky students that attended since pre-k and in my time here I have learned many things, not just educational but also life lessons as well and found many friendships. My fellow classmates and I are here tonight at our 8th grade promotion from Heninger Elementary. We are the graduating class of 2018!

Throughout my high school career I have participated in many activities and been awarded many great honors. As a member of my high school color guard, I have led as co-captian and captain for four years, traveling across the country to compete. Beta Club has given me the opportunity to serve my local community and create a service project to reach the globe. I was asked to lead the volunteers at my church for the early service in the children's ministry area my sophomore year and I continue to serve in this position. During my junior year I was acknowledged as a junior marshal, a Wofford Scholar, and a Presbyterian College Scholar.

I spend a large amount of time helping out, sorting and copying music, and doing other things that are needed. I have dedicated almost all of my time to band this year, whether that be marching band, concert ensembles, Grand View Wind Ensemble, jazz band, or the honor bands I did this year. I changed my outlook on our program and knew it was the program I wanted to be the most involved in throughout high school.

Congratulations to the students in 7th and 8th grade who spent a whole weekend at UMKC for the UMKC Honor Band and Orchestra. These students were nominated by their peers and teachers and selected by the UMKC staff. The nominees had to perform a solo piece to audition for seating. There were more than 25 other local middle schools participating in this festival, and Prairie Star did quite well with a whopping 13 students accepted to the festival.

All of this contributed to me joining the marching band, beginning in eighth grade, which has taken over my life now, in the best way possible and given me a defined place. It’s nice to be a part of something like

Imagine it’s your eighth grade, year.  Time is flying, tick-tock, tick-tock.  You’re getting closer to that one thing you’ve been waiting to achieve, since the day you started middle school.  It’s coming down to the wire and there’s only one week left before this event arrives.  You’re feeling confident, however you ask yourself,”Do I deserve to graduate?”  Bang, there goes all of your confidence, down the drain.  This is what many eighth graders worry about during their last few months of school.  Throughout the duration of my eighth grade, I’ve accomplished many goals and have grown into a more mature person. These attributes have led me to an amazing eighth grade year which makes me believe, “ I do deserve to

At the beginning of my senior year, I committed myself to additional volunteer works. These volunteer activities require leadership skills that I have learned previously. Some of these activities include:

I had become field commander of our marching band, I was the 2015 Hancock County Jr. Fair Queen, my mom got a new job as a teacher’s aid (which at the time she didn’t know she’d end up hating it, but for now she’s happy.), and I could finally say I was truly happy with the way things were going. The thought of being a senior scared but excited me at the time. I have gone to Liberty-Benton for thirteen years and am the fourth generation to graduate from L-B. I was so ready to finally begin a new journey as a high school graduate and a college freshman.

Throughout my high school career, I have come to be heavily involved in activities within my high school. I was inducted into National Honor Society in the school year of 2015-2016. I came to be involved in the Drama Club for all four years of my high school career, along with being in Student Council all four years as well. In Student Council, I held the position of treasurer my senior year, and was on the executive board. The music department also has been one of the biggest programs I have come to be involved in within my high school career. I have played alto saxophone in concert band all four years of high school, and played alto saxophone my senior year in jazz band. Along with being in both concert band and jazz band, I was also part

As with most kids, I was a bit nervous about my transition from middle school to high school. One advantage I had was that I participated in band in middle school and planned to be in the band in high school. The Round Rock High School band has a history of excellence and I was looking forward to being a part of that organization. This was an extraordinary time and I looked forward to being a part of the band with great anticipation. Being a part of an organization such as this makes the transition to high school seem much easier and it seemed I had a ready-made group of friends that I could rely on and ask questions of if necessary. After all, the Round Rock High School Band has over 300 members.

It is an honor be part of the Geography department at Frostburg, and earned a 4.0 GPA in my first semester at Frostburg State University, and getting accepted into the National Honor Society. I was never an honors students. In fact, growing up involved a life of setbacks and challenges. School was very difficult for me. I was held back a year in first grade, and placed in self-contained special education classes, I been diagnosed with severe ADD and learning disabilities. While in elementary school, at one of my I.E.P meetings, the teachers told my parents that I would never make it to college and that as a teenager I could get caught up in drugs and possibly be suicidal, And, that I would need medications and to see therapists. Also, the

Being in the UNCG Honors Band was the best experience I've had with an outside band. The band itself was made out the most talented high school musicians in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tenseness. I felt extremely proud that I had made this band and I felt that I had moved up from being just a high school musician to a serious musician just being around all these other students who were proficient or higher on their instrument. UNCG Honors Band was important to me because not only did I get my first real experience with a college band, but I got a first glimpse of what is to come for me as a tuba player.

One of the most rewarding moments that I experienced from being drum major is when one of the freshman trumpet players came up to me at the last competition and said, "Thank you for all that you did

Due to my failure to make All State, I recognized that I did not need the recognition, the big performance and the medal that is given out. What truly mattered was the improvement that I achieved as a musician. In those short summer months, I had polished my scales and sharpened my sight reading skills. I was ready for my next audition which propelled me to the second highest band in my high school band program, the Symphonic Band. Competition for this band is usually very high and I was quite proud to have achieved such an

For what I do for my community, for the past 4 years I've done quite a lot with UT's Marching Band. I've been to just about every parade, competition, showcase, and banquets they've had. It's truly been a remarkable experience joining the marching family when I recently emerged out of elementary school, and now I'm ready to blast off into high school. The time has gone by fast, but the memories and lessons learned haven't by a long shot. I've helped build, carry, feed, hydrate, provide, and so much more for the kids and even the parents. I'm still in awe of how they all seem to have taken me in, and let me enjoy the experience with them. With my brother, Reilly, leaving it and my joining it, my parents are in for another stressful, amazing, agitating, but phenomenal thing.