“I’m a band nerd, and I’m proud of it,” said Giselle Blanchard, 14, a freshman at Central Texas Christian School. “I don’t care what you call me. I can’t sing and I can’t dance, but I can play the trombone.”
Miss Blanchard is one of five students participating in the CTCS high school band. They meet for about an hour a day, when they rehearse arrangements like “Great Balls of Fire,” a song popularized by Jerry Lee Lewis.
“I don’t know. I wish sometimes I could do something cool, like wear some suspenders or something when we play. Maybe those big hats they wear in most marching bands?” Miss Blanchard said, laughing.
The small number of students makes for a tight-knit group. Two of the students are new to the school, while the others had never really spoken to each other or played together.
“I think we have each other’s back,” said Rachel Hall, 14. “I think we’re used to each other now. When we screw up, it’s not that big of deal. We laugh about it.”
Miss Hall, who attended CTCS in middle school, is partly responsible for the new band. After participating in the CTCS middle school band, which has about 30 students in it every year, Miss Hall decided she didn’t want to give up on one of her passions, so she recruited students to form the high school band.
“For some reason a lot of students just gave up on band and went into art when they got to high school,” Miss Hall said.
“I think it’s because art is easier,” joked Marco Inocencio, 14, the band’s trumpet player.
After Miss Blanchard and Katie Bell, 14, transferred to the school, CTCS decided they had enough students to offer a band. Eventually, band director Kayleen Henderson was brought in, and a class was announced for the fall. Ms. Henderson had previous dealings with the students when they were in middle school.
All of the students are freshmen. They don’t have any gigs lined up yet, other than the pep rally that will take place this Friday in preparation for Saturday’s football game. The band will play the school’s newly adopted fight song, as well as a song to lead cheerleader introductions.
The students were a little nervous on Monday afternoon after learning they’d be performing.
“Oh my goodness,” Miss Blanchard said. “We’re really going to do the pep rally?”
“Our first day of school was really the first time we met each other,” said Miss Bell, who plays the flute.
Ms. Henderson sees an advantage to having a small band.
“We travel easier,” she said.
“Hopefully we’ll build slowly,” Ms. Henderson said. “I think what these students are doing is pretty encouraging.”
The band will participate in soloist and ensemble competitions during the year, and Ms. Henderson said she plans to blend the students with the middle school band for some events.
The CTCS high school band also features percussionist Tim Teacutter.
