Last year, there were 38 student members and a full-time teacher in the school band. But over the summer, the director took another job and the school board had no applicants for the vacant position.
"It was such a downer, " remembers Jadyn Lane. "But we were given a choice--we could sign up for other electives(选修课)，or find a way to make the band work. " Most students signed up for other electives, but 10 students decided to stay.
"It wasn't an option to quit, " says Hailey Fitzgerald. "I've been in the band for seven years. I love it! It's too important for too many reasons. " The students elected Hailey as director, a position she accepted on the condition they would all work together and share responsibilities. They recruited Casey Griffith and Jennifer Nail-Cook to be their official faculty advisors. Casey did the paperwork, and Jennifer helped with the music.
They directed themselves. Front and center on the band room whiteboard are a set of rules which they created themselves. In addition, they made a calendar (日历) of their upooming events, like football games. It included a daily countdown to each event so they'd be prepared.
Perhaps most importantly, they decided which instruments were necessary to make a band of this size work. Most of them were drummers. How could they play those instruments with the people they had? "Several members switched instruments and some even learnt brand new ones, " Hailey says.
The time came last month for their first public performance. It was a home football game against Richwood. They had no idea what to expect. Would it work? Would the crowd cheer them on? Would they cheer up the football team? To their surprise, a group of students made posters for the band and hung them at the entrance to the football field. "We thought some people didn't even know we still had a band, " says Jadyn. But their classmates had been paying attention and wanted to make their first game special. And their school won.
