It's winter break now at Cameron High School, and both students and teachers are celebrating holidays with their families in or out of town. But some students and teachers are still busy even though it's winter break because of school commitments. Senior student Scott Walser is one of those many students.

 

December 5th a portion of Cameron High School Band's members went to Hickman High School in Columbia, MO for All-District Band. The way it works is there's one audition and if it meets the judges' expectations, then the members are called back to audition again. Scott went through this whole process and was called back to audition again. After the second audition, Scott didn't know what to think because there was a lot of competition. Scott was named to compete at All State Band in the end though. "The other trumpeters were really good, and some weren't very good...I thought I was in the middle and when they called my name I was so surprised," says Scott. 

All-State Band will take place Tan-Tar-A in the Ozarks January 27th-30th, and Scott has already been practicing ever since All District Band. Scott also mentioned he's received a lot of congratulations from friends and family, and plans to have fun with his next performance.

 

Scott didn't do it all on his own though. Band directors Shane Jones and Blake Duren played a huge role in motivation and support for Scott making it to All-State Band. Mr. Jones and Duren are both proud of Scott and both had a feeling he would receive the honor because of his dedication of hard work and time to this. "I'm very proud of Scott. It's an incredible accomplishment and takes lots of time and dedication to make District and All-State Band, says Duren.

Mr. Jones had a similar opinion on the subject. "Scott worked long and hard for this and it''s going to be an amazing music experience for him," says Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones and Duren both explained All-State Band using an All Star Game as reference saying it's like a sports time without any weaklings and every part of the band is as strong as they can be. This event can also be good for Scott in other ways as well.  Being at All-State puts a good mark on your college application, so this will be a positive thing for Scott musically and educationally as well.

 

So congratulations to Scott on making All-State Band, and good luck with practice over winter break!