By: Ainsley Hall
MARTINSBURG — Martinsburg South Middle School, Spring Mills Middle School and Spring Mills High School partnered together to bring a group of students to West Virginia Wesleyan College to participate in the Wesleyan North Central West Virginia Honor Band, beginning on Sunday.
Several students from each school, as well as the band directors, will travel together and challenge themselves to perform with many other talented students from across the state.
Last year, Martinsburg South Middle School Band Director Heather Nowell took a group of students to participate in the Wesleyan North Central West Virginia Honor Band. After having such a positive experience, Nowell spoke with the other band directors in Berkeley County to encourage them to join this year.
“The thing that really sold me on this event was when one of my students decided he wanted to go to college,” Nowell said. “They weren’t sure before, but after visiting a school, they wanted to continue their education. We had a great time at the college, but that really sealed the deal.”
Spring Mills Middle School Band Director Jordan English and Spring Mills High School Band Director Lee Cheek were both eager to join and create more opportunities for their students. So, this year, they will join Nowell by bringing a few of their own students and traveling together to the event.
“This is a great opportunity, because it gives students the chance to see another part of West Virginia,” English said. “The Eastern Panhandle tends to be isolated from the rest of the state, which means students sometimes miss out on opportunities like this, because they are so far away. It also gives them the opportunity to visit a small, private college, while also working with high-quality directors.”
The event starts on Sunday, when all the selected student musicians will gather to start working with other students from different schools under one director. In just a few days, they will learn and practice several pieces to perform during a special concert on Tuesday. This year, the event will also include the Directors Symposium, which gives band directors the chance for professional development.
Three of the local students who are part of the band — Martinsburg South Middle School’s Emari Olson, Mikayla Loper and Mikayla Ornelas — are excited to participate in the trip this year. Olson plays percussion, Loper plays flute and piccolo, and Ornelas plays trombone.
After hearing about it from their friends who went last year, they were eager to go with their friends and continue developing their skills.
“I’m really looking forward to learning new music and getting in touch with other directors,” Loper said. “I’ve been in band for two years and really enjoy it, so I want to explore all the other opportunities to play more.”
“I want to work on sight reading,” Ornelas added. “I did that a bit when I lived in Texas. I want to learn a lot of different music.”
Meanwhile, Olson shared that one thing he will take away from the experience is that working hard will pay off. Even though it can be hard sometimes, his hard work will lead to good things.
“We are all balancing band with school, homework, sports and all these other things,” Olson said. “It all adds up, but seeing something good and fun come out of it makes all that hard work worth it.”
Nowell hopes all the students take this opportunity to grow and develop skills that they can use in the future. Even if they don’t become professional musicians, students will learn how to work with strangers, develop communication skills and create future connections with others.