November 2018
THE BEACON
Page 5A
Music- Notes, History, & Friendships
The Batesville High School Band performed at Disney World. (Photo courtesy of Josiah Keith)
Concert Choir members
Maggie Ravenna, Kerala
Carter and Jared Tiemann
invite the community to at-
tend ECHS concerts.
Continued from page 4A
how talented the students are
whether it’s band or chorus or
performing on the stage.”
Throughout the area,
students are putting on pro-
ductions and performing in
concerts that showcase those
remarkable talents. Em-
ily Jones is the band director
for Lawrenceburg High and
Greendale Middle Schools.
She says, “There’s such a
storied history with this band:
they used to be called Law-
renceburg Marching Show
Band back in the 70s with
150+ members; a big band
competing with the Marching
300 at East Central. Through
the years, traditions change,
but today the kids and I are
creating new traditions while
still trying to keep the very rich
history of this band alive and
well. ... I want people to know
that we’re happy doing what
we’re doing. We’re happy to
be making music every day,
and we love what we do.”
Hailey Smith, a senior at Mi-
lan High School where the an-
nual band trip includes visits to
senior citizen centers and nurs-
ing homes where the students
‘give back’ by performing for
free and interacting with the
residents, says, “There are
times when the band is playing
when you can really tell that
it brings people a lot of joy, I
would say. Especially when
we go to the nursing homes;
sometimes we moved people
to tears because it’s important
to them. And if we didn’t have
the support from the commu-
nity, we wouldn’t be able to
bring that to people.”
Students are passion-
ate, hardworking, and able.
Instructors are enthusiastic
and dedicated to challenging
their students. Many admin-
istrations are very supportive
of the arts in their schools,
and parent involvement is an
integral part of their child’s
creative vision. The only thing
these young people, schools,
and families cannot provide
is community participation.
The revenue from ticket sales
for concerts and performances
goes toward the purchase of
sheet music, performance
rights, refurbishing instru-
ments, and much more, but
even with careful budgeting
those monies are not enough to
cover all expenses, so teachers
and students spend a portion of
their time looking for ways to
generate additional funds.
Mr. Leech observes, “Fund-
ing is a big thing. We don’t get
a huge amount of funding, and
that’s mostly because… there’s
not a lot of money that gets
funneled in here. When I do
need something for the school,
Dr. Jackson tries to find me
something when he can, but
there’s just not enough money
for the schools, for Performing
Arts in general.”
Franklin County High School
Choir sells Butter Braid pastry
dough, and the FCHS Band re-
cently sold tee and sweatshirts;
East Central High School
Band has an annual mattress
sale, while Milan High School
Band will be selling chocolate
bars again this year, and nearly
every school’s performing arts
department hosts car washes or
car shows; sells popcorn and/or
baked goods – all in an effort to
generate operating funds.
Franklin County High
School’s Mr. Williams invites
the public to attend students’
performances, a message
echoed by his professional
peers. He says, “Support the
arts - we are very lucky to
have the support of admin-
istrators to have an updated
auditorium with new lighting
and sound. Administrators
need to hear community sup-
port for the arts as well.”
Student participation in the
arts has been proven to im-
prove test scores, build con-
fidence, teach self-discipline,
and so much more. Support,
encourage, and be thoroughly
entertained by these commit-
ted and creative young people,
by contacting area schools to
learn when your local school
band will be playing in a
winter parade or holiday con-
cert – or even the local coffee
shop! Meet friends at the
next spring musical, and be
sure to secure tickets for the
next choral performance. As
Mrs. Zengerling says, “What
these kids do is important. It
is important to them. They are
amazing, talented kids.”
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