Band Fundraiser

It's that time of the year when the band does its fundraisers. The biggest fundraiser of the year was Music in the Castle, which was held last Saturday. Bands from 10 area high schools came to THS to compete in a full day of musical festivities. The day culminated in an exhibition performance by the THS Mighty Viking Band. They were awesome!


Sam is in there somewhere, but I can't find him. haha

Now, it's time to sell fruit ... oranges, grapefruit and tangelos. Each band member needs to sell at least 10 boxes of fruit. Local friends, please show your support for THS and place your order for fruit!





Orders (WITH payment) are due by November 4.

High School Football

This past Friday night, Tennessee High School had their first football game of the season. It was a home game against Sullivan East. It was also Sam's first experience ever of playing in the band for a high school pep rally and then a football game. He loved it! Unfortunately, I had to work and missed seeing the band perform. I heard they did really well, considering it was their first performance of this school year. To make a great day even better, THS annihilated East 42-0!! Woohoo!!! Go Vikings!!! Now, Sam is super-psyched about being in the band and is living for Fridays!

Sam's First Week of High School

My baby is in high school. It seems like just last week that he started Kindergarten. My! How he has grown and matured since then! He is tall and handsome and smart. He walks with confidence and is determined to be the best high school student he can be.

Since he has high aspiration for his life, he has decided to take the hardest classes he can. This year, he is enrolled in English I Honors. One of the requirements for that class is summer reading, with a test on the book during the first week of school. This year's book was "Great Expectations". Sam wasn't thrilled about it, but as he read it, he got into the story and appreciated it and discussed deep aspects of the book with me. That was a good thing, because traditionally, most people fail the test on the summer reading, and the highest score ever received on that test was a 90%. Well, Sam did not get a 90%, but he did pass, and we are both happy about that.

He has been able to re-connect with some old friends from elementary and middle school, and he has made new friends, among them some upperclassmen in band.

He's excited about band and doesn't need coaxing to practice his trumpet after school. His school, Tennessee High School, has a proud tradition of having the best band in this area, and Sam is proud to be a part of it.

I, obviously, am a proud parent! While I realize he's not perfect, I think he's pretty close to it.

MUSIC IN THE CASTLE

This past Saturday, Tennessee High School held their annual "Music in the Castle" band competition. Vance Middle School held with a tradition over 40 years old by opening the festival with "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was Sam's first marching-band experience. Although the weather was beautiful with cooler temperatures than what we had been having, it was still very hot in those band uniforms. BUT, those kids looked terrific and sounded even better.

I took some pictures on my cell phone and recorded a snippet. The pictures are below. I was going to share the video as well, but for some reason, I can't get it to play here.

Here is Sam with the rest of the band, practicing in the band room before heading across the street to the THS castle.


Here are the clarinets, trumpets, and trombones while the band is playing "America the Beautiful".


Here they are marching off the field.


Here they are walking back to VMS.