BAND EARNS 3 RATING AT CONTEST

On Tuesday, March 14, the De Kalb Tiger Pride Band went to Tarkio for the Small School Band Festival. Small schools around the district with bands that consist of grade 7-12 were able to participate.

It took a lot of hard work to prepare for contest day. “I am proud of the work that every student put into our performance. Every student became a better player working to prepare the music. I am proud of students who stepped up to be leaders in many different ways. I am also proud of students being willing to edit their parts to play things we needed that may not be printed on their music. Everyone was flexible and helped in any way they could to make music together,” says Mrs. King.

Junior and Drum Major, Jayden Schneider says, “ Performances always cause accidents and stuff that usually doesn't happen. I am proud of how far we have come, especially from the past two weeks. We have had several days off from conferences, and had a total of 5 days between our last practice and performance.”

The band got a 3 rating out of 5, which is in the middle. They got a 3 from two judges and a 2 from one judge.

The one judge who gave the 2 rating was also Mrs. King's high school band director. Mrs. King recalls feeling “Very happy and immediately very stressed becauseI knew he was someone who has been teaching for a very long time, and knows his stuff. He is very well respected in the state, and I was under a lot of pressure when I found that out," says Mrs. King.

The band will take the comments given to them from the judges and apply them to other pieces of music that they work on. “Going to contests like those are about the learning process, not just a number or score on a page. Every performance helps us grow and get better and that is always the goal,” says Mrs. King.