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| SUMMIT PHOTO BY BOB FENSKE
Forest City Middle School Student Mark Melby rehearses with the NCIBA Honor Band Saturday. |
Forest City Middle School band director enjoys an exhilarating day
Rutt says students deserve the rewards they reaped with honor bands
By Bob Fenske
Of The Summit
FOREST CITY - The exhilaration on Dawn Rutt's face Saturday afternoon was hard to miss but easy to understand.
The Forest City High School Middle School Band Director sat in the school lobby as the two North Central Iowa Bandmaster Association's honor bands rehearsed for a concert later that night. Inside the rehearsal rooms, 10 of Rutt's students were playing their instruments.
And five of them were sitting in “first chairs,” which go to the best of the best.
“I can't tell you how happy I am for those kids,” Rutt said. “It's an incredible honor and it's a testament to the hard work they put into preparing for this day. To have 10 here and to have five of them in first chairs, it's just phenomenal.”
Those first-chair students included eighth-grader Nikko Celindro on the Bb clarinet, seventh-grader Daniel Melby on the euphonium, seventh-grader Stephanie Formanek on the bass clarinet, eighth-grader Nick Grothe on the baritone saxophone and eighth-grader Mark Melby on the trombone.
Other NCIBA Honor Band members from Forest City included eighth-grader Tyler Brackey on the trumpet, seventh-grader Jake Haugen on the Bb clarinet, seventh-grader Tyler Putney on the tuba, seventh-grader Jake Staudt on the French horn and eighth-grader Zach Lillquist on percussion.
The good news certainly didn't end there as three of Rutt's students - Celindro, Mark Melby and Grothe -were selected for the All Iowa Eighth-Grade Honor Band, which is akin to the All-State band for high school players. Brackey, meanwhile, was named as an alternate.
The announcement of the All-Iowa Honor Band members capped a hectic and busy day at both the high school and middle school, which were hosting the Nib's Honor Band Festival for the first time.
The 197 students from 46 middle schools began arriving at 8 a.m. and went through a morning of rehearsals and chair placements. After a break for lunch, with both bands having their chairs placed, students returned for a three-hour rehearsal and a concert performed before a large crowd in the Forest City High School gym.
“It's a lot of playing for middle school students,” Rutt said, “and I think one of the things I'm most proud of is the fact that our kids came so well prepared. There's nothing worse than showing up at an honor band and not being ready. I didn't have to worry about that with our students even with the kind of falls they've had.”
In short, the students, especially the eighth-graders, have been immersed in musical activities, not to mention other activities like sports.
Every Forest City eighth-grader selected to the Honor Band marched with the Forest City High School Marching Band. And all of the students, including the seventh-graders, also marched with the Middle School Marching Band and prepared for last Thursday's first concert of the school year.
“I'm not sure people realize how dedicated these kids are,” Rutt said, “but I see it every day. They come to school ready to play, and you know they've put the time in to deserve an honor like this is.”
Story created Nov 18, 2008 - 12:28:26 CST.
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