• Elementary and middle school students get to see the bigger band picture..

Star Valley High School’s Marching Braves visited Osmond Elementary School, Etna Elementary School and Star Valley Middle School on Friday March 20, presenting their award-winning show, “Decomposers: Bach From the Grave.”

OES reading students who met their honors reading goal were also recognized in the assemblies, and all the students in all three schools enjoyed the band as the music filled the gymnasiums.

“We want to show these young students that there is life beyond elementary school,” said Dani Call, who serves as Assistant to the SVHS Band Director and Librarian at OES, in an interview with SVI Media that morning.  “We want the 4-6 grade students to see what awaits them after elementary band. It gets kids thinking and excited to move onto middle school band. In the elementary setting, they get band once every five days. It makes it hard to learn music and to fall in love with band, but seeing high school  students who continued through gives them a bigger picture. It’s a great recruitment tool.”

Band students who continue to play with the band in high school are given opportunities to play at Varsity football and basketball games with the Pep Band. They also work to polish a high-quality show and attend the Wyoming State Marching Band Festival each year. This year, the Marching Braves received a Superior, which is the highest award given to bands at the festival.  They also received recognition with Caption Awards for their exceptionally high scores in Color Guard, Woodwinds, and Music. Occasionally, when the Varsity teams qualify for the State Championship games, the Pep Band is able to travel to the game and support the Braves.