School & Family Magazine Newstand Arlington Nov/Dec 2017 | Page 23

Musical
Showcase
By Kenneth Perkins
No one is more delighted by the Dean Corey
Marching Extravaganza than the school that bears the Corey name. Dean Corey was perhaps AISD’s most
accomplished band director and coordinator, establishing orchestra and marching and jazz band programs
while influencing the district’s entire music curriculum along the way.
It was a no-brainer to turn then-Corey Elementary into Corey Academy of Fine Arts and Dual Language,
where students can apply to attend to specialize in the arts.
When the 35 th Annual Dean Corey Marching Extravaganza took place recently at the University of Texas at
Arlington Maverick Stadium, Corey Academy was on hand selling letterman band patches to fundraise for
scholarships.
The criterion for the scholarships is being a band member for four years. The scholarships are now at $1,000.
“This all goes hand in hand,” said Gara Hill, president of the Corey Academy PTA. “We raise money for the
scholarships, and the scholarships
help raise awareness about what we
are doing at Corey. It all works.”
This annual band showcase is a
dry run of sorts for the big UIL
marching competitions. All AISD
high school bands get a chance to
show their stuff in front of not only
an audience of cheering family,
classmates and friends, but also judges who are giving them all important notes about what to tweak before
the competition.
“This is the competition before the competition,” Hill said, even though there are no winners and losers
during the showcase. “It’s really helpful to the bands to have this before the competition because the
performance they put on is the same one they will do for UIL. So if they need to go back and make some
adjustments on things judges saw, they have the time to do that.”
The Dean Corey Marching Extravaganza is also a terrific showcase for junior high bands, which get a
chance to strut their stuff, too, even though they don’t get on the field. The junior high bands do selections in
between the high school performances.
“And since they are there it lets them know what to look forward to in the future,” Hill said. “Next year or
the year after that they will be down on that field playing for a high school band.”
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