This year, the Fredericktown band got a new addition to their family. Mr. Politte has been welcomed into the school with open arms by the band students. He’s had aspirations to be a music teacher since he was in high school. His degrees are in choir, band, and orchestra, but while in college he decided that band was his favorite. Mr. Politte wants his class to help his students become independent musicians with good moral character, while still having fun.

Junior Molly Sikes is a band member, and her description of band this year was challenging. She’s been in band for five years playing the clarinet. Molly is currently the first chair clarinet in our band. One of her favorite band experiences was the Jackson Band Festival with all of her band members. From being in band, Molly has learned that being lazy will get you nowhere, and if you’re lazy you’ll probably quit at semester. Another lesson she’s learned was that she has to be accepting of new things and “just roll with it.”

Another outstanding band student is Ashley Yoder. She’s known around the school as being very passionate about band. Ashley has also been in band for five years now and she’s learned a lot. One of the things she’s learned is that you have to work hard for what you want to do. Ashley’s greatest achievement of this school year was making second chair in All-District Band, and she plans on focusing her time on getting a “one” at state.  Being at the UMKC Conservatory is Ashley’s goal after high school. When asked if there was anything else she would like to add, Ashley said “Band is awesome!”