A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018
SCHOOLS
Running, singing and dancing for the arts
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Though it was near
the end of the day, Rocky
Heights Elementary School
students showed no signs of
slowing down. They spent
the afternoon of Oct. 9 sing-
ing, dancing and jumping to
the reggae tunes of Aaron
Nigel Smith, a musician
who stopped by the Herm-
iston elementary school as
part of the Run for the Arts
program.
Each year, the school has
a week dedicated to raising
money for the arts, complete
with an art and fitness night,
a visiting musician, artist or
theater performer, and a fun
run where students collect
pledge money from family
and friends. All the money
raised goes toward art and
music programs, and events
for the school.
“We’ve brought in art-
ists to do fused glass, had
authors, theater perfor-
mances,” said Erin Andrea-
son, a fifth grade teacher at
Rocky Heights.
As he strummed the first
few notes of a song, Smith
told the kids that this wasn’t
a concert where they had to
be quiet.
“All of my songs have
instructions,” he said. As he
Aaron Nigel Smith performs for students at Rocky Heights
Elementary School last week. Below, art created by students
adorns the walls of the school gymnasium.
STAFF PHOTOS BY E.J. HARRIS
Students and staff sing along with reggae singer Aaron Nigel Smith on his song “One”
at Rocky Heights Elementary School last week in Hermiston. The concert was part of the
school’s Run for the Arts fundraiser.
sang a song about animals,
students made the noises of
each creature.
Behind Smith and his
band, the walls of the Rocky
Heights gymnasium were
adorned with banners that
each class had made, featur-
ing each student’s artwork.
Rocky Heights has been
doing Run for the Arts since
2010, and is the only school
in the district that does the
program, but it’s been done
at schools around the Pacific
Northwest.
“It was something I did
when I taught in Portland, so
I brought it here,” Andrea-
son said.
She said the Run for the
Arts program sends a per-
former to schools every year.
For the past several years,
she said they also partnered
with local artist Marty Beau-
champ, who would do an art
project with each class.
Emilie Wyant, a fifth-
grader in Andreason’s class,
said she has enjoyed learn-
ing about different types of
art through the program. Her
favorite medium is acting.
“You get to show your
creativity on stage and peo-
ple watch you,” she said.
“It’s a good feeling.”
The school will have var-
ious events throughout the
week in honor of the arts.
Smith returned to Rocky
Heights Tuesday evening
to perform for parents and
community members. Stu-
dents have dress-up days
throughout the week, and
on Thursday had the name-
sake event, a 30-minute fun
run during their music and
physical education classes.
Andreason said the top
earner would receive tick-
ets to the Academy of Chil-
dren’s Theater in Richland.
Andreason said in years
past they’ve raised about
$2,500.
Marching band competition a study in multitasking
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Marching band takes as
much athletic focus as it
does musical skill, with stu-
dents spending hours on the
field, memorizing compli-
cated footwork as they play,
and competing against other
schools.
The weekend of Oct. 6,
the Hermiston High School
marching band faced off
against 22 other schools
in the Cavalcade of Bands
competition in Pasco, which
featured schools from Ore-
gon, Washington and Idaho.
Hermiston finished 15th,
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Members of the Hermiston High School marching band practice a
performance routine on the baseball field last week.
and placed fourth in its
division. Hermiston also
received an award for “best
brass and woodwinds” in
their division.
“It was kind of exciting,”
WE HEAR YOU!
Director Sean McClanahan
said. “It was the first time in
a while that Hermiston has
come home with an award.
They’ve been working hard
and made a lot of improve-
ments in the last year or
two.”
McClanahan said the
band participates in three or
four competitions a year, as
well as local performances,
such as Homecoming.
He said the band has
long competed with schools
from other states, and was
not affected by the dis-
trict’s decision to start com-
peting against Washington
schools.
“It’s kind of its own
thing,” he said.
Each year, the band
picks a performance theme,
which includes a dance rou-
tine. This year’s theme is
“Wired: The Rise of Artifi-
cial Intelligence.”
They start preparing two
weeks before school, put-
ting in 12-hour days at band
camp, before scaling back to
two-hour nightly practices
during the school year.
McClanahan has a staff
of about nine working with
him — including teachers
from around the district, and
coaches from the Columbi-
ans Drum and Bugle Corps,
based in Pasco.
Instructors from the
Columbians help with cho-
reography and visual design.
“They’ve
definitely
upped the level — it’s pay-
ing off,” said senior clarinet
player Megan Baskins, who
has been in marching band
since she was a freshman.
Baskins said she, and
most other marching band
students, devote all of their
free time to music.
“When we’re not here,
we’re working, trying to
memorize music,” she said.
“All of us love music, and
we put in all this hard work
to get to show others.”
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