Директор оркестра школы South Putnam восстановил марширующий ансамбль после 25-летнего перерыва

When South Putnam Band Director Thomas Champion took over the South Putnam band program seven years ago, the numbers were staggering low. Fast forward to present day and Champion has turned the program into one that is on the rise. Proof of the programs success can be found when South Putnam had its first home football game beck on Aug. 21. For the first time in at least 25 years the program resurrected its marching band and entertained the crowd with a halftime show. Recently Champion sat down with the Banner Graphic to talk about the program’s success. “One of our biggest goals when I got here was rethinking our recruitment strategy,” Champion said. “I wanted to rework our scheduling to make band more accessible to those who wanted to do it. It started by recruiting those fifth-grade kids into the program so that we could get our numbers up. I obviously can’t do the job that I do without the great support that our administration gives us. "Dr. (Corey) Smith, our principals and others all want to see this program grow and have made it a priority," Champion added. "It’s all been really building up to how it can be more involved in the school spirit element. A lot of what we’re doing has been moving toward that direction and how do be become more visible in the public’s eye.” Doing something that hasn’t been done in nearly 25 years at South Putnam is no small accomplishment for Champion and his program. The work behind the scenes to get uniforms, music, actual drill for the students and much more is something that the general public isn’t aware of that takes place. When the Eagles took the field for their halftime performance on the 21st, Champion admitted that he wasn’t quite sure what to expect. “We spent around 40-50 hours over the summer learning the music, learning the drill and teaching the kids the basics of marching,” he said. “When you step out onto the field for the first time in front of a crowd, you don’t really know what’s going to happen. I was really impressed with how they did and was blown away with the community support too. We talk all the time about how good the South Putnam community is about supporting our students and that was definitely on display when we performed. Whether it was people coming up to me or the kids afterward and telling them what a great job we did, that was amazing to see.” In a time where school corporations are trying to stretch every single dollar possible and cuts to programs, classes and extracurriculars have to unfortunately be made, the arts are usually the first to get their feet swept out beneath them. At South Putnam it's the reverse trend where funding is going toward the arts as Champion explains. “Dr. Smith has worked very hard to get us supplies and sure up some of our aging infrastructure whether it be our instruments to our practice field, a lot of things have come about because they see the vision,” he said. “In an era where students are choosing to go online, band isn't something you can do virtually. We've always had homeschooled kids in our program. Now that we're launching the virtual academies, I see that as another way that we might be able to attract some more students as well. Everyone recognizes that the band program is a way to get kids interested in coming to our school.” What's an even greater compliment to the kids who choose to be a part of the marching band is that at a small school like South Putnam, Champion has students who are doing multiple sports and still choosing to come to rehearsal. Even though it might be a tiring day, the fact that they're there shows how important band is to them. “We have kids who just ran for two hours at cross country then come and do a four-hour band practice during the summer,” he said. “That right there says something in itself on the type of kids we have. What's great about our band program is that the only thing you have to do to be in the program is take the class. After that if you want to do marching band or pep band or anything else we offer, you can do that. I'm not forcing the kids to anything else. They get to choose their own experience. I think that's part of success is you do what you can. If I were to force the kids to do all these extra things, I'd lose 40 of them the next day,” In terms of total number of students in grades 6-12, Champion said that there are around 90 total kids currently in the program. At the end of the year each spring Champion gives his students a very small writing assignment asking the simple question of "What do like about band?" Some of the answers that he receives speak volumes about the program. “We get kids that say this is their home away from home,” Champion said. “This is my school family. I truly think that's what makes band unique is no other activity brings students from all these other backgrounds. I like to say that every kid is going to identify themselves by what they do. I don't want to really take any credit for this because I tell people I just put together the pieces that are already in place.” South Putnam under Champion's guidance and leadership has routinely performed well at many different contests, including the Indiana State School Music Association Solo and Ensemble contest and Festival contest, had students selected for honor bands, all-district and all-region bands and much more. South Putnam's band program certainly has a Champion leading the way.