Clarke Central High School band students perform in their Large Group Performance Evaluation on March 22, 2019. All CCHS students transitioned to a five-day-a-week schedule starting on April 12,which means the band program will be holding a synchronous class with all members who opted to return to face-to-face instruction. “(Students coming back all five days) will definitely help the band class in terms of instrumentation because due to the last names not (coordinating), we’ve been missing a few instruments (in) every class,” . CCHS junior Harrison Carmack, a trumpet player, said. “(This new schedule will) help bring the entire band back together so we can practice better and actually perform music.”. Photo by Elena Webber
On April 12, Clarke Central High School students returned to a five-day-a-week schedule, allowing the band classes to play together as a whole for the first time this school year.
CCHS junior Harrison Carmack plays trumpet with the CCHS band and enjoyed going back to in-person classes.
“(In-person classes have) been good. It’s better than I thought,” Carmack said. “We’re able to (space out) pretty easily because of the size of the band room, and we’re all able to play together, which is nice. We haven’t been able to do that for almost a year.”
“(Everyone in the band program is) so excited, so incredibly excited. We’re ready to make music as a band.”
— Lauren Duke,
CCHS Band Paraprofessional
CCHS Band Paraprofessional Lauren Duke shares this sentiment and is excited for band class with all the students coming together.
“(Everyone in the band program is) so excited, so incredibly excited. We’re ready to make music as a band, and we’re going to have a lot more people in-person after spring break due to everybody going back at one time. It’ll be exciting, (and) we’re ready (for it),” Duke said.
Carmack believes the band has done a good job creating a sense of normalcy while following guidelines for safety with returning to in-person band.
“We’re separating out enough that we’re following (the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines while staying close enough that it doesn’t sound odd, and everybody’s not in each corner of the room. We also have the bell covers which (are) basically like a mask for the end of the instrument,” Carmack said.
Duke hopes that the band is able to use this increase in time together to get back into playing in preparation for the band’s upcoming spring concert.
“(A goal for the end of the year is) definitely just (having) the spring concert (and) making sure everybody is at a place where they can all play at the spring concert. That’s been the hardest part, (not being) able to play as much as we want to as a group,” Duke said. “(We are) just making sure that everybody is able to balance and blend and do all that stuff that we do in bands, because we haven’t really practiced it (together all year).”
