More than an election

Along with yesterday being election day and my wife's birthday, I had the opportunity to take 3 students to the South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association (SCIBA) Honor Band in Johnston. Nicholas, Michael and Kathryn spent the afternoon working with guest conductors and students from about50 area schools working on music they received a couple weeks ago. Last night, they put on a concert--absolutely wonderful. It is amazing how talented students can come together and make such great music.

For the CM students, it was a great chance to see what it is like playing in a band of about 100 students! Quite a different experience than what they are used to doing. The top 8th graders in the auditioned "Blue" band were selected to perform as part of the All Iowa 8th Grade Honor Band in May at the Iowa Bandmasters Conference. Lots of hard work and preparation goes into something like this, but the end result is awesome! Hopefully this experience will remind all those involved of the importance of the arts in education!