What You Know About That? (W1)

MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

by Charles Boisseau

1 Imagine flying over Texas on some warm Friday night this autumn.

2 Look down from your window seat and you could easily spot a most interesting phenomenon: all those blazing stadium lights and the buzzing of all the crowds attending hundreds of high school football games simultaneously under way across the Lone Star State. At halftime, you’ll see a real spectacle: uniformed marchers fanning across green fields, forming patterns, drumming beats, blaring horns, flashing flags and twirling batons.

3 As you hover, consider this: Every Friday night during the fall, an estimated 140,000 young people from more than 850 Texas high schools dress up in crisp uniforms, tall hats with fancy plumes and gawky white shoes, and march and make music for countless fans, family members and townspeople. 4 We all know that Texans are mad about football, and the players usually get the attention. But what’s a football game without the marching band?

5 “Yes, you can say that Texas has more high school bands and more participants than any other state. That’s pretty much a ‘no brainer’ when you consider the size of the state and the number of bands,” said Richard Floyd. He’s state director of music for the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body that oversees extracurricular academic, athletic and music contests in the state’s public school system.

6 Floyd and a chorus of other educators cite numerous national studies showing a link between studying music and improved cognitive skills, higher scores on standardized tests and lower dropout rates.

7 Texas not only has the most marching bands, but it also has earned a reputation for having some of the nation’s best, with many bands touring the country, winning national awards and sending graduates on to music careers. To be sure, most band members don’t make music their life and may seldom play after they graduate, but band alumni will likely tell you that it was there they learned the skills and habits for success.

8 With the football season well under way, it’s an ideal time to tune in and learn more about high school marching bands.

BANDS IN ALL SIZE

9 Texas marching bands range in size from Class 5A Allen High School’s approximately 650 members, including a drill team and color guard, to numerous Class 1A schools, and others, with 20 or fewer members.

10 Known as the Allen Eagle Escadrille (French for “squadron”), Allen’s band is considered the largest in the country—high school or college. It’s larger than The University of Texas or Texas A&M University bands, each of which has fewer than 400 members. The Allen band is so large that when it takes the field, it stretches from end zone to end zone. So loud, it can create a wall of sound that has factored in the outcome of games.

11 When playing at away games, the band requires 20 buses and a team of nearly 100 parent volunteers to help with logistics and other chores, such as moving equipment, chaperoning, handing out snacks and water bottles, and carefully managing plumes that go with marchers’ hats, said Tim Carroll, spokesman for the high school and also a band parent.

12 The band, still growing in a district with a single 5,000-student high school, has more members than the U.S. House of Representatives. Last year’s band had 59 trombones, and Band Director Charles Pennington has promised if it reaches 76 he’ll add the show tune “Seventy-Six Trombones” to the playlist.

13 In contrast, Kenneth Griffin, executive secretary of the Texas Association of Small School Bands, said some of the smallest bands have about a dozen members. Griffin’s organization was formed in 1991 to better represent small schools at band competitions.

14 At some small schools, roughly half of the student body is in the band. Last year, Sundown High, on the South Plains near Lubbock, won the UIL Class 1A marching band title with 117 band members, including some eighth-graders. The high school’s entire student body was 188, said Assistant Band Director Zane Polson. It was Sundown’s sixth state marching band title, more than any other school in any classification. 15 Polson said the community’s strong support and high expectations motivate band students. “In some places, being in the band is not the in thing; it’s not cool. It’s cool to be in the band in Sundown,” he said.

GEEKS AND NERDS

16 At some places, band members are labeled “geeks” or “nerds.” Usually good-natured ribbing, such teasing may help members rally around each other to form one of the strongest subcultures within high schools.

17 “You have your preps, your jocks and your band nerds,” said Jolynn Harwell, 24, who played clarinet and served as drum major for two years at Stephenville High School. She now teaches English at North Garland High School, where she also serves as unofficial adviser to clarinet players. “We always called ourselves ‘band nerds.’ I don’t think it’s derogatory or anything. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

18 Band kids bond by hanging out together in the band hall; enduring seemingly endless rehearsals, particularly during the grueling summer band camp; engaging in all sorts of fundraising activities; and sharing many experiences outside the classroom on long bus trips to games and competitions. 19 “It’s like camaraderie,” Harwell said. “For four years, it’s your family.”

20 Of course, none of this means there isn’t plenty of friendly competition among players in different sections. Carroll, of Allen High, remembered his son, John, a horn player, coming home from his first day of summer band camp and having already been indoctrinated by the upper-class horn players in his section. He blurted out gleefully: Flutes stink!

The author included paragraph 4 most likely to —

• F emphasize that football players in Texas deserve more attention than they receive

• G imply that football should not be the most popular sport in Texas

• H suggest that marching bands are as important as football players

• J show that marching in a band is as demanding as playing football

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

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CCSS.RL.6.2

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MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

by Charles Boisseau

1 Imagine flying over Texas on some warm Friday night this autumn.

2 Look down from your window seat and you could easily spot a most interesting phenomenon: all those blazing stadium lights and the buzzing of all the crowds attending hundreds of high school football games simultaneously under way across the Lone Star State. At halftime, you’ll see a real spectacle: uniformed marchers fanning across green fields, forming patterns, drumming beats, blaring horns, flashing flags and twirling batons.

3 As you hover, consider this: Every Friday night during the fall, an estimated 140,000 young people from more than 850 Texas high schools dress up in crisp uniforms, tall hats with fancy plumes and gawky white shoes, and march and make music for countless fans, family members and townspeople. 4 We all know that Texans are mad about football, and the players usually get the attention. But what’s a football game without the marching band?

5 “Yes, you can say that Texas has more high school bands and more participants than any other state. That’s pretty much a ‘no brainer’ when you consider the size of the state and the number of bands,” said Richard Floyd. He’s state director of music for the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body that oversees extracurricular academic, athletic and music contests in the state’s public school system.

6 Floyd and a chorus of other educators cite numerous national studies showing a link between studying music and improved cognitive skills, higher scores on standardized tests and lower dropout rates.

7 Texas not only has the most marching bands, but it also has earned a reputation for having some of the nation’s best, with many bands touring the country, winning national awards and sending graduates on to music careers. To be sure, most band members don’t make music their life and may seldom play after they graduate, but band alumni will likely tell you that it was there they learned the skills and habits for success.

8 With the football season well under way, it’s an ideal time to tune in and learn more about high school marching bands.

BANDS IN ALL SIZE

9 Texas marching bands range in size from Class 5A Allen High School’s approximately 650 members, including a drill team and color guard, to numerous Class 1A schools, and others, with 20 or fewer members.

10 Known as the Allen Eagle Escadrille (French for “squadron”), Allen’s band is considered the largest in the country—high school or college. It’s larger than The University of Texas or Texas A&M University bands, each of which has fewer than 400 members. The Allen band is so large that when it takes the field, it stretches from end zone to end zone. So loud, it can create a wall of sound that has factored in the outcome of games.

11 When playing at away games, the band requires 20 buses and a team of nearly 100 parent volunteers to help with logistics and other chores, such as moving equipment, chaperoning, handing out snacks and water bottles, and carefully managing plumes that go with marchers’ hats, said Tim Carroll, spokesman for the high school and also a band parent.

12 The band, still growing in a district with a single 5,000-student high school, has more members than the U.S. House of Representatives. Last year’s band had 59 trombones, and Band Director Charles Pennington has promised if it reaches 76 he’ll add the show tune “Seventy-Six Trombones” to the playlist.

13 In contrast, Kenneth Griffin, executive secretary of the Texas Association of Small School Bands, said some of the smallest bands have about a dozen members. Griffin’s organization was formed in 1991 to better represent small schools at band competitions.

14 At some small schools, roughly half of the student body is in the band. Last year, Sundown High, on the South Plains near Lubbock, won the UIL Class 1A marching band title with 117 band members, including some eighth-graders. The high school’s entire student body was 188, said Assistant Band Director Zane Polson. It was Sundown’s sixth state marching band title, more than any other school in any classification. 15 Polson said the community’s strong support and high expectations motivate band students. “In some places, being in the band is not the in thing; it’s not cool. It’s cool to be in the band in Sundown,” he said.

GEEKS AND NERDS

16 At some places, band members are labeled “geeks” or “nerds.” Usually good-natured ribbing, such teasing may help members rally around each other to form one of the strongest subcultures within high schools.

17 “You have your preps, your jocks and your band nerds,” said Jolynn Harwell, 24, who played clarinet and served as drum major for two years at Stephenville High School. She now teaches English at North Garland High School, where she also serves as unofficial adviser to clarinet players. “We always called ourselves ‘band nerds.’ I don’t think it’s derogatory or anything. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

18 Band kids bond by hanging out together in the band hall; enduring seemingly endless rehearsals, particularly during the grueling summer band camp; engaging in all sorts of fundraising activities; and sharing many experiences outside the classroom on long bus trips to games and competitions. 19 “It’s like camaraderie,” Harwell said. “For four years, it’s your family.”

20 Of course, none of this means there isn’t plenty of friendly competition among players in different sections. Carroll, of Allen High, remembered his son, John, a horn player, coming home from his first day of summer band camp and having already been indoctrinated by the upper-class horn players in his section. He blurted out gleefully: Flutes stink!

19 In paragraph 11, the word logistics means the —

• A raising of funds

• B supervising of details

• C recruiting of members

• D scheduling of practices

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

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MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

by Charles Boisseau

1 Imagine flying over Texas on some warm Friday night this autumn.

2 Look down from your window seat and you could easily spot a most interesting phenomenon: all those blazing stadium lights and the buzzing of all the crowds attending hundreds of high school football games simultaneously under way across the Lone Star State. At halftime, you’ll see a real spectacle: uniformed marchers fanning across green fields, forming patterns, drumming beats, blaring horns, flashing flags and twirling batons.

3 As you hover, consider this: Every Friday night during the fall, an estimated 140,000 young people from more than 850 Texas high schools dress up in crisp uniforms, tall hats with fancy plumes and gawky white shoes, and march and make music for countless fans, family members and townspeople. 4 We all know that Texans are mad about football, and the players usually get the attention. But what’s a football game without the marching band?

5 “Yes, you can say that Texas has more high school bands and more participants than any other state. That’s pretty much a ‘no brainer’ when you consider the size of the state and the number of bands,” said Richard Floyd. He’s state director of music for the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body that oversees extracurricular academic, athletic and music contests in the state’s public school system.

6 Floyd and a chorus of other educators cite numerous national studies showing a link between studying music and improved cognitive skills, higher scores on standardized tests and lower dropout rates.

7 Texas not only has the most marching bands, but it also has earned a reputation for having some of the nation’s best, with many bands touring the country, winning national awards and sending graduates on to music careers. To be sure, most band members don’t make music their life and may seldom play after they graduate, but band alumni will likely tell you that it was there they learned the skills and habits for success.

8 With the football season well under way, it’s an ideal time to tune in and learn more about high school marching bands.

BANDS IN ALL SIZE

9 Texas marching bands range in size from Class 5A Allen High School’s approximately 650 members, including a drill team and color guard, to numerous Class 1A schools, and others, with 20 or fewer members.

10 Known as the Allen Eagle Escadrille (French for “squadron”), Allen’s band is considered the largest in the country—high school or college. It’s larger than The University of Texas or Texas A&M University bands, each of which has fewer than 400 members. The Allen band is so large that when it takes the field, it stretches from end zone to end zone. So loud, it can create a wall of sound that has factored in the outcome of games.

11 When playing at away games, the band requires 20 buses and a team of nearly 100 parent volunteers to help with logistics and other chores, such as moving equipment, chaperoning, handing out snacks and water bottles, and carefully managing plumes that go with marchers’ hats, said Tim Carroll, spokesman for the high school and also a band parent.

12 The band, still growing in a district with a single 5,000-student high school, has more members than the U.S. House of Representatives. Last year’s band had 59 trombones, and Band Director Charles Pennington has promised if it reaches 76 he’ll add the show tune “Seventy-Six Trombones” to the playlist.

13 In contrast, Kenneth Griffin, executive secretary of the Texas Association of Small School Bands, said some of the smallest bands have about a dozen members. Griffin’s organization was formed in 1991 to better represent small schools at band competitions.

14 At some small schools, roughly half of the student body is in the band. Last year, Sundown High, on the South Plains near Lubbock, won the UIL Class 1A marching band title with 117 band members, including some eighth-graders. The high school’s entire student body was 188, said Assistant Band Director Zane Polson. It was Sundown’s sixth state marching band title, more than any other school in any classification. 15 Polson said the community’s strong support and high expectations motivate band students. “In some places, being in the band is not the in thing; it’s not cool. It’s cool to be in the band in Sundown,” he said.

GEEKS AND NERDS

16 At some places, band members are labeled “geeks” or “nerds.” Usually good-natured ribbing, such teasing may help members rally around each other to form one of the strongest subcultures within high schools.

17 “You have your preps, your jocks and your band nerds,” said Jolynn Harwell, 24, who played clarinet and served as drum major for two years at Stephenville High School. She now teaches English at North Garland High School, where she also serves as unofficial adviser to clarinet players. “We always called ourselves ‘band nerds.’ I don’t think it’s derogatory or anything. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

18 Band kids bond by hanging out together in the band hall; enduring seemingly endless rehearsals, particularly during the grueling summer band camp; engaging in all sorts of fundraising activities; and sharing many experiences outside the classroom on long bus trips to games and competitions. 19 “It’s like camaraderie,” Harwell said. “For four years, it’s your family.”

20 Of course, none of this means there isn’t plenty of friendly competition among players in different sections. Carroll, of Allen High, remembered his son, John, a horn player, coming home from his first day of summer band camp and having already been indoctrinated by the upper-class horn players in his section. He blurted out gleefully: Flutes stink!

20 By presenting the ideas included in paragraphs 1 through 3, the author is able to —

• F explain why students join marching bands in Texas

• G describe the equipment required by Texas marching bands

• H emphasize that marching bands in Texas are a common sight

• J identify the most popular instruments in Texas marching bands

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Marching to Different Drummers

21 The author chose the title of this selection to highlight the idea that —

• A Texas marching band members are talented

• B there is variety among Texas marching bands

• C Texas marching band members are dedicated

• D there are a large number of Texas marching bands

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22 Which sentence from the selection is a commonplace assertion?

• F We all know that Texans are mad about football, and the players usually get the attention.

• G Known as the Allen Eagle Escadrille (French for “squadron”), Allen’s band is considered the largest in the country—high school or college.

• H At some small schools, roughly half of the student body is in the band.

• J Griffin’s organization was formed in 1991 to better represent small schools at band competitions.

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CCSS.RL.11-12.6

23 Which of these supports the idea that band members form strong bonds with one another?

• A “We always called ourselves ‘band nerds.’ I don’t think it’s derogatory or anything. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

• B “It’s like camaraderie,” Harwell said. “For four years, it’s your family.”

• C “In some places, being in the band is not the in thing; it’s not cool. It’s cool to be in the band in Sundown,” he said.

• D “You have your preps, your jocks and your band nerds,” said Jolynn Harwell, 24, who played clarinet and served as drum major for two years at Stephenville High School

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CCSS.RL.8.1

MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

by Charles Boisseau

1 Imagine flying over Texas on some warm Friday night this autumn.

2 Look down from your window seat and you could easily spot a most interesting phenomenon: all those blazing stadium lights and the buzzing of all the crowds attending hundreds of high school football games simultaneously under way across the Lone Star State. At halftime, you’ll see a real spectacle: uniformed marchers fanning across green fields, forming patterns, drumming beats, blaring horns, flashing flags and twirling batons.

3 As you hover, consider this: Every Friday night during the fall, an estimated 140,000 young people from more than 850 Texas high schools dress up in crisp uniforms, tall hats with fancy plumes and gawky white shoes, and march and make music for countless fans, family members and townspeople. 4 We all know that Texans are mad about football, and the players usually get the attention. But what’s a football game without the marching band?

5 “Yes, you can say that Texas has more high school bands and more participants than any other state. That’s pretty much a ‘no brainer’ when you consider the size of the state and the number of bands,” said Richard Floyd. He’s state director of music for the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body that oversees extracurricular academic, athletic and music contests in the state’s public school system.

6 Floyd and a chorus of other educators cite numerous national studies showing a link between studying music and improved cognitive skills, higher scores on standardized tests and lower dropout rates.

7 Texas not only has the most marching bands, but it also has earned a reputation for having some of the nation’s best, with many bands touring the country, winning national awards and sending graduates on to music careers. To be sure, most band members don’t make music their life and may seldom play after they graduate, but band alumni will likely tell you that it was there they learned the skills and habits for success.

8 With the football season well under way, it’s an ideal time to tune in and learn more about high school marching bands.

BANDS IN ALL SIZE

9 Texas marching bands range in size from Class 5A Allen High School’s approximately 650 members, including a drill team and color guard, to numerous Class 1A schools, and others, with 20 or fewer members.

10 Known as the Allen Eagle Escadrille (French for “squadron”), Allen’s band is considered the largest in the country—high school or college. It’s larger than The University of Texas or Texas A&M University bands, each of which has fewer than 400 members. The Allen band is so large that when it takes the field, it stretches from end zone to end zone. So loud, it can create a wall of sound that has factored in the outcome of games.

11 When playing at away games, the band requires 20 buses and a team of nearly 100 parent volunteers to help with logistics and other chores, such as moving equipment, chaperoning, handing out snacks and water bottles, and carefully managing plumes that go with marchers’ hats, said Tim Carroll, spokesman for the high school and also a band parent.

12 The band, still growing in a district with a single 5,000-student high school, has more members than the U.S. House of Representatives. Last year’s band had 59 trombones, and Band Director Charles Pennington has promised if it reaches 76 he’ll add the show tune “Seventy-Six Trombones” to the playlist.

13 In contrast, Kenneth Griffin, executive secretary of the Texas Association of Small School Bands, said some of the smallest bands have about a dozen members. Griffin’s organization was formed in 1991 to better represent small schools at band competitions.

14 At some small schools, roughly half of the student body is in the band. Last year, Sundown High, on the South Plains near Lubbock, won the UIL Class 1A marching band title with 117 band members, including some eighth-graders. The high school’s entire student body was 188, said Assistant Band Director Zane Polson. It was Sundown’s sixth state marching band title, more than any other school in any classification. 15 Polson said the community’s strong support and high expectations motivate band students. “In some places, being in the band is not the in thing; it’s not cool. It’s cool to be in the band in Sundown,” he said.

GEEKS AND NERDS

16 At some places, band members are labeled “geeks” or “nerds.” Usually good-natured ribbing, such teasing may help members rally around each other to form one of the strongest subcultures within high schools.

17 “You have your preps, your jocks and your band nerds,” said Jolynn Harwell, 24, who played clarinet and served as drum major for two years at Stephenville High School. She now teaches English at North Garland High School, where she also serves as unofficial adviser to clarinet players. “We always called ourselves ‘band nerds.’ I don’t think it’s derogatory or anything. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

18 Band kids bond by hanging out together in the band hall; enduring seemingly endless rehearsals, particularly during the grueling summer band camp; engaging in all sorts of fundraising activities; and sharing many experiences outside the classroom on long bus trips to games and competitions. 19 “It’s like camaraderie,” Harwell said. “For four years, it’s your family.”

20 Of course, none of this means there isn’t plenty of friendly competition among players in different sections. Carroll, of Allen High, remembered his son, John, a horn player, coming home from his first day of summer band camp and having already been indoctrinated by the upper-class horn players in his section. He blurted out gleefully: Flutes stink!

24 What are paragraphs 6 and 7 mainly about?

• F The results of studies about Texas high school marching bands

• G The high quality of Texas high school marching bands

• H The benefits of being in a high school marching band

• J The popularity of being in a high school marching band

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CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

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MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

by Charles Boisseau

1 Imagine flying over Texas on some warm Friday night this autumn.

2 Look down from your window seat and you could easily spot a most interesting phenomenon: all those blazing stadium lights and the buzzing of all the crowds attending hundreds of high school football games simultaneously under way across the Lone Star State. At halftime, you’ll see a real spectacle: uniformed marchers fanning across green fields, forming patterns, drumming beats, blaring horns, flashing flags and twirling batons.

3 As you hover, consider this: Every Friday night during the fall, an estimated 140,000 young people from more than 850 Texas high schools dress up in crisp uniforms, tall hats with fancy plumes and gawky white shoes, and march and make music for countless fans, family members and townspeople. 4 We all know that Texans are mad about football, and the players usually get the attention. But what’s a football game without the marching band?

5 “Yes, you can say that Texas has more high school bands and more participants than any other state. That’s pretty much a ‘no brainer’ when you consider the size of the state and the number of bands,” said Richard Floyd. He’s state director of music for the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body that oversees extracurricular academic, athletic and music contests in the state’s public school system.

6 Floyd and a chorus of other educators cite numerous national studies showing a link between studying music and improved cognitive skills, higher scores on standardized tests and lower dropout rates.

7 Texas not only has the most marching bands, but it also has earned a reputation for having some of the nation’s best, with many bands touring the country, winning national awards and sending graduates on to music careers. To be sure, most band members don’t make music their life and may seldom play after they graduate, but band alumni will likely tell you that it was there they learned the skills and habits for success.

8 With the football season well under way, it’s an ideal time to tune in and learn more about high school marching bands.

BANDS IN ALL SIZE

9 Texas marching bands range in size from Class 5A Allen High School’s approximately 650 members, including a drill team and color guard, to numerous Class 1A schools, and others, with 20 or fewer members.

10 Known as the Allen Eagle Escadrille (French for “squadron”), Allen’s band is considered the largest in the country—high school or college. It’s larger than The University of Texas or Texas A&M University bands, each of which has fewer than 400 members. The Allen band is so large that when it takes the field, it stretches from end zone to end zone. So loud, it can create a wall of sound that has factored in the outcome of games.

11 When playing at away games, the band requires 20 buses and a team of nearly 100 parent volunteers to help with logistics and other chores, such as moving equipment, chaperoning, handing out snacks and water bottles, and carefully managing plumes that go with marchers’ hats, said Tim Carroll, spokesman for the high school and also a band parent.

12 The band, still growing in a district with a single 5,000-student high school, has more members than the U.S. House of Representatives. Last year’s band had 59 trombones, and Band Director Charles Pennington has promised if it reaches 76 he’ll add the show tune “Seventy-Six Trombones” to the playlist.

13 In contrast, Kenneth Griffin, executive secretary of the Texas Association of Small School Bands, said some of the smallest bands have about a dozen members. Griffin’s organization was formed in 1991 to better represent small schools at band competitions.

14 At some small schools, roughly half of the student body is in the band. Last year, Sundown High, on the South Plains near Lubbock, won the UIL Class 1A marching band title with 117 band members, including some eighth-graders. The high school’s entire student body was 188, said Assistant Band Director Zane Polson. It was Sundown’s sixth state marching band title, more than any other school in any classification. 15 Polson said the community’s strong support and high expectations motivate band students. “In some places, being in the band is not the in thing; it’s not cool. It’s cool to be in the band in Sundown,” he said.

GEEKS AND NERDS

16 At some places, band members are labeled “geeks” or “nerds.” Usually good-natured ribbing, such teasing may help members rally around each other to form one of the strongest subcultures within high schools.

17 “You have your preps, your jocks and your band nerds,” said Jolynn Harwell, 24, who played clarinet and served as drum major for two years at Stephenville High School. She now teaches English at North Garland High School, where she also serves as unofficial adviser to clarinet players. “We always called ourselves ‘band nerds.’ I don’t think it’s derogatory or anything. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

18 Band kids bond by hanging out together in the band hall; enduring seemingly endless rehearsals, particularly during the grueling summer band camp; engaging in all sorts of fundraising activities; and sharing many experiences outside the classroom on long bus trips to games and competitions. 19 “It’s like camaraderie,” Harwell said. “For four years, it’s your family.”

20 Of course, none of this means there isn’t plenty of friendly competition among players in different sections. Carroll, of Allen High, remembered his son, John, a horn player, coming home from his first day of summer band camp and having already been indoctrinated by the upper-class horn players in his section. He blurted out gleefully: Flutes stink!

25 What does the word alumni mean in paragraph 7?

• A Former participants

• B Parent supporters

• C College applicants

• D Competition judges

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CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

by Charles Boisseau

1 Imagine flying over Texas on some warm Friday night this autumn.

2 Look down from your window seat and you could easily spot a most interesting phenomenon: all those blazing stadium lights and the buzzing of all the crowds attending hundreds of high school football games simultaneously under way across the Lone Star State. At halftime, you’ll see a real spectacle: uniformed marchers fanning across green fields, forming patterns, drumming beats, blaring horns, flashing flags and twirling batons.

3 As you hover, consider this: Every Friday night during the fall, an estimated 140,000 young people from more than 850 Texas high schools dress up in crisp uniforms, tall hats with fancy plumes and gawky white shoes, and march and make music for countless fans, family members and townspeople. 4 We all know that Texans are mad about football, and the players usually get the attention. But what’s a football game without the marching band?

5 “Yes, you can say that Texas has more high school bands and more participants than any other state. That’s pretty much a ‘no brainer’ when you consider the size of the state and the number of bands,” said Richard Floyd. He’s state director of music for the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body that oversees extracurricular academic, athletic and music contests in the state’s public school system.

6 Floyd and a chorus of other educators cite numerous national studies showing a link between studying music and improved cognitive skills, higher scores on standardized tests and lower dropout rates.

7 Texas not only has the most marching bands, but it also has earned a reputation for having some of the nation’s best, with many bands touring the country, winning national awards and sending graduates on to music careers. To be sure, most band members don’t make music their life and may seldom play after they graduate, but band alumni will likely tell you that it was there they learned the skills and habits for success.

8 With the football season well under way, it’s an ideal time to tune in and learn more about high school marching bands.

BANDS IN ALL SIZE

9 Texas marching bands range in size from Class 5A Allen High School’s approximately 650 members, including a drill team and color guard, to numerous Class 1A schools, and others, with 20 or fewer members.

10 Known as the Allen Eagle Escadrille (French for “squadron”), Allen’s band is considered the largest in the country—high school or college. It’s larger than The University of Texas or Texas A&M University bands, each of which has fewer than 400 members. The Allen band is so large that when it takes the field, it stretches from end zone to end zone. So loud, it can create a wall of sound that has factored in the outcome of games.

11 When playing at away games, the band requires 20 buses and a team of nearly 100 parent volunteers to help with logistics and other chores, such as moving equipment, chaperoning, handing out snacks and water bottles, and carefully managing plumes that go with marchers’ hats, said Tim Carroll, spokesman for the high school and also a band parent.

12 The band, still growing in a district with a single 5,000-student high school, has more members than the U.S. House of Representatives. Last year’s band had 59 trombones, and Band Director Charles Pennington has promised if it reaches 76 he’ll add the show tune “Seventy-Six Trombones” to the playlist.

13 In contrast, Kenneth Griffin, executive secretary of the Texas Association of Small School Bands, said some of the smallest bands have about a dozen members. Griffin’s organization was formed in 1991 to better represent small schools at band competitions.

14 At some small schools, roughly half of the student body is in the band. Last year, Sundown High, on the South Plains near Lubbock, won the UIL Class 1A marching band title with 117 band members, including some eighth-graders. The high school’s entire student body was 188, said Assistant Band Director Zane Polson. It was Sundown’s sixth state marching band title, more than any other school in any classification. 15 Polson said the community’s strong support and high expectations motivate band students. “In some places, being in the band is not the in thing; it’s not cool. It’s cool to be in the band in Sundown,” he said.

GEEKS AND NERDS

16 At some places, band members are labeled “geeks” or “nerds.” Usually good-natured ribbing, such teasing may help members rally around each other to form one of the strongest subcultures within high schools.

17 “You have your preps, your jocks and your band nerds,” said Jolynn Harwell, 24, who played clarinet and served as drum major for two years at Stephenville High School. She now teaches English at North Garland High School, where she also serves as unofficial adviser to clarinet players. “We always called ourselves ‘band nerds.’ I don’t think it’s derogatory or anything. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

18 Band kids bond by hanging out together in the band hall; enduring seemingly endless rehearsals, particularly during the grueling summer band camp; engaging in all sorts of fundraising activities; and sharing many experiences outside the classroom on long bus trips to games and competitions. 19 “It’s like camaraderie,” Harwell said. “For four years, it’s your family.”

20 Of course, none of this means there isn’t plenty of friendly competition among players in different sections. Carroll, of Allen High, remembered his son, John, a horn player, coming home from his first day of summer band camp and having already been indoctrinated by the upper-class horn players in his section. He blurted out gleefully: Flutes stink!

26 What is the best summary of the section titled “Bands in All Sizes”?

• F There are many marching bands in the state of Texas. Some of the bands are very small, consisting of as few as a dozen members. Kenneth Griffin’s organization, the Texas Association of Small School Bands, represents some of these small high school bands at competitions.

• G With 5,000 students, Allen High School is a very large school. Its marching band has 650 members, which makes it larger than the bands at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. On the other hand, the Sundown High School marching band has only 117 members.

• Class 5A Allen High School has the largest marching band in the United States. It is larger than any other high school marching band or any college marching band. This band’s 650 members fill an entire football field when they are playing. It takes 20 buses to transport the members to away games.

• J Texas boasts the largest high school marching band in the nation, the Allen Eagle Escadrille, which has 650 members. There are also many small, award-winning marching bands in Texas, such as Sundown High School’s 117-member marching band, which has won many marching band titles.

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27 With which statement would the author most likely agree?

• A More band members should pursue careers in music.

• B It is possible for a school of any size to have a successful band program.

• C Band camps would be more effective if they didn’t occur during the summer.

• D Large schools should consider including middle school students in marching band.