BY SYDNI DINGLE, Freshman
BLYTHEWOOD-- Richland School District Two is considering combining the five individual high school’s marching bands into one band in the fall of 2017.
In the spring of 2016, district officials discussed creating a district marching band, but voted against the idea.
Members of the Blythewood High School Blue Legion marching band are excited for the idea of combining a band and hope it will be a possibility in the upcoming years.
“I would rather be a part of a combined band because I will get to do more and be a part of something more than just being known for being in a single band,” freshman member of the color guard Iyanna Jean-Simone said.
Parents of members in band are also looking forward to the new idea.
“It would be a good opportunity to bring the schools together because it would be interesting to see how the schools collaborate and come together as one,”
Calvin Dingle, parent of a freshman in Blue Legion said.
According to the Lawrence Central Performing Arts Association, a school district in Indiana was successful in combining two of their high school’s marching bands to form the Lawrence Township Community Band. It is believed that the two schools have done better than they could both do individually.
“Advantages would be students would be able to get a world class experience and [be able] to compete on a national level,” James Barnes, director of the Blue Legion marching band said.
Since the district’s five high school bands will be combined, marching band will no longer be required for students who may only want to participate in concert or symphonic band.
“It would certainly be bigger than any current Richland Two Program. There would be a percentage of students that would not do it because of it not being required, but that's to be expected. I think the numbers would grow throughout the years once parents and students see what the ensemble can do,” Barnes said.
Marching band is an expensive activity for some. Blythewood High School students have paid a minimum of $700 to participate in the 2016 season.
“It would generally be less for virtually every program in Richland Two. The cost would certainly go up on the budget side, but we would also combine fundraisers and there would be more students to split the cost over. We would never exclude any student from participating due to financial hardship. This is the same things as what we do now,” according to Barnes.
While there are many advantages to the combining of the bands there are still challenges to face before this idea can be put in action.
