Students put their playing to the test in Salina
On Jan. 5, over 1,000 Kansas students traveled to Salina Central High School to audition for Kansas Music Educators Association All-State groups. Among those who came to showcase their hours of practice and musical skills were seniors Steven Murray and Chelly Spahalski and juniors Clayton Fasenmyer, David Hu and Grant Laster.
These musicians’ schedules on the day of the audition required them to leave from Southwest at 5:30 a.m., spend a day competing against the state’s finest high school musicians and then arrive back home after a three-hour drive. The All-State hopefuls qualified and performed at the Northeast Kansas District Band concert, an accolade that required them to learn excerpts from various college-level solo pieces and perform them in front of a panel of judges. They found out their audition results on Jan. 8.
“All-State is really important to me because of the sense of accomplishment you get from it,” Murray said. “Being in District band was an amazing experience on its own, and just the act of auditioning for State is pretty cool. To know that you are one of the best in the state makes you feel as if everything has paid off.”
Murray and Laster have been recognized as the best musicians in the state of Kansas and will perform on Feb. 23 at the Century II Convention Center in Wichita.
Preparing for Prom
Headed by biology teacher Dianne Dunn, the Prom com- mittee is com- prised of junior leaders from Student Council and serves to plan the end-of-year dance for upper- classmen.
Although Prom is months away, junior prom planners have been working to raise funds and solidify details. Backed by funds from Homecom- ing ticket sales’ profits, “Split the
Pot” raffles and rollover money from previous junior classes, the prom commit- tee booked the Camelot Ball- room in Stanley.
Junior Nick Edwards has been a major driving force for the committee and has headed a project to provide junior class T- shirts.
The Prom planning group meets at 3 p.m. on Tuesdays in room 203.
