Story

BY ED MARCUM

marcum@knews.com

It's pretty safe to say the Carter High School band is a growing program. In 2001, when Angie Messer came on as band director, there were just a handful of students in band.

"We had 36 horn players my first year and about 50-ish in band, but about 28 of those were flag girls," Messer said.

Now, out of an enrollment of 967 at Carter High, 147 students -a little more than 15 percent of the student body - are also enrolled in band. Next year, the band will have an estimated 189 students, Messer said.

Conditions look good for the growth to continue, she said.

"Ninety-eight percent of the eighth-grade students at Carter Middle School have signed up to take band here next year," Messer said.

This growth in band interest has not gone unnoticed. Cheryl Hickman, Carter High School principal, credits Messer as the driving force that has brought it all about.

"None of this could have happened without the enthusiasm, leadership and dedication of Mrs. Messer," Hickman said in a press release announcing that Messer has been nominated for the Downtown Rotary Club's 2007 Outstanding Teacher of the Year award.

Whether she receives that award, the Tennessee Music Education Association has already chosen Messer as Outstanding Young Music Teacher of 2007.

Messer doesn't claim all the credit, though. She notes she has a hardworking staff that includes assistant band director Matt McCurry and Carla Bowman, University of Tennessee student teacher. Support from the school administration and from parents has been tremendous, and the community has also pitched in to help make the band program a success, she said.

The band also has been making a name for itself at games, tournaments and other events. More than once, it has performed in the Magic Kingdom parade at Disney World, in the Santa Claus Parade and Veterans Day Parade in Knoxville and the Christmas Parade in Atlanta.

The Carter band marched and played during halftime at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans in 2004 and was in the Daytona 500 Parade in 2005, where the band was picked as best in the parade, Messer said.

Also, individual band members get selected each year for All-East and All-South bands, and the overall band consistently receives superior ratings in competitions. The Carter program consists of a marching band, winter guard, symphony band, concert band and jazz band.

Messer said she has tried to make band fun as well as a challenge for students and tries to make them feel that they are in an elite group.

"We are passionate about it, we do fun things, and we make them feel like they belong," she said. "Our total mission down here is that it gives kids a place to fit in."

Students get to take part in selecting the music they will play.

"We try to play things they can identify with. At games, we try to gear our halftime show to audience appeal. The football team will tell us, 'Hey, can you play this or play that?,' and Mr. McCurry writes it out and we play it," Messer said.

Speaking of the football team, Messer said the band is about as popular with athletes as it is with the rank-and-file student body.

"We have 30 athletes in band. Every athletic team on campus has one person or more in band," she said.

The important thing is to develop a sense of pride not only among the band but throughout the school, Messer said.

"When you try to make something that is elite in quality, it attracts people. They want to be part of something that is good and successful," she said.

"Our drum major this year said years ago, you got made fun of for being in band. Now nobody says anything bad about band kids because there are five or six band kids in every class," Messer said.

There is one downside to all the growth the band has experienced, though: The need for fundraising has grown as well. Because the Carter community had never had a thriving band program, it had no idea how much money sustaining that success required.

"It's a huge chore. Just to go to a ballgame across town costs us $1,200. We had to take four buses this year, and we'll have to take five next year," Messer said.

To support this growth, the band has to rely heavily on its booster organization, and all parents and students are expected to help out.

Money is raised from concessions sold at football games, a fruit sale in November, a cookie dough sale and other sales. The program also gets help from the school administration and from businesses in the community, especially Rush's Musical Services.

Courtney Jones and Jeremy Smith, both seniors, have been in the Carter band program since middle school. Courtney said Messer's enthusiasm for music has motivated the students, and that has done a lot to make the band program grow.

"It's just kind of her attitude. When she came there were only a few members of the band, but it has grown every single year she has been here," Courtney said.

Both students said they really enjoyed doing events such as a concert at Thorn Grove Baptist Church, where the band gets to perform for the community at large.

Courtney and Jeremy also said the camaraderie is a big plus of being in band.

"We were told in middle school that as soon as you enter as a freshman, you will have about 100 friends right away from band. Your band friends are your closest friends," Jeremy said.