Congrats to Mr. Finch and the Spartan Marching Band!!!

I just wanted to take a second to brag on Chris and his band. They received their first SUPERIOR rating this past weekend at the District Marching Festival in the school's 3 year history. Not only did the receive an overall SUPERIOR rating, but the scored SUPERIOR in each of the different categories that were evaluated. He and his kids have worked really hard over the past 3 years and were ecstatic to receive their ratings this year. I was sitting in the stands with his students when their rating was announced and it was electric.

Chris received many accolades from other area band directors about how well the band had performed. In fact one colleague told Chris he was skeptical when Chris told him he was going to be performing Aaron Copland's "Billy the Kid" this year, but that off all the bands that performed on Saturday he was most impressed with Chris's.

Congratulations Honey, you have certainly worked hard for this!!!
And congratulations to all the members of the Spartan Marching Band...we couldn't be more proud of you!!!

Going to States!!!

Friday night was a rare night for us without a football game. Chris's band however had a big competition on Saturday so they did a Friends and Family Performance that evening to get one more dress rehearsal in before the big day.

The girls enjoyed the extra freedom of being able to play in the stands that were not nearly as crowded as they are on a typical Friday night game.

Peyton enjoyed playing chase in the empty stands with her sister.

Mom Mom came with us to watch the band and then she took the girls home with her for the night since Chris and I both had to work the next day.

So, the exciting news is that Chris's band qualified for the Florida State Competition in November at Saturday's competition. Not only that, they finished 2nd in their division (2A) to the band that finished 3rd in the state competition last year. They also came in 8th place out of 18 bands in the overall competition, beating all the bands in the division (3A) just above them.

To say the least, Chris is so proud of his students and excited for their accomplishment. Not bad for a 3rd year band!