HIGHY SCHOOL BAND ENJOYS LEGACY OF SUCCESS

Advance band director Bob Moses.

ADVANCE -- Bob Moses doesn't recruit players, and no one warms the bench because everyone gets to play. But Moses isn't a full-time coach -- he's the band director for the Advance High School Marching Hornets.

Besides, coaches and band directors aren't supposed to get along even though they have the same "team" philosophy. But they do get along at Advance High School, Moses said, adding that he also coaches softball.

"We all have to work together to get the job done and we all have to give 100 percent or it will fall apart," he said.

Students at the school are giving almost 100 percent to the music program. More than 90 of them are enrolled in the marching band, which performs at area fairs and parades during its three-month season.

Only three other classes meet during the one-hour daily band practice. There are 17 students in the art class, 14 in a vocational-agriculture class and 21 in psychology and sociology. About 150 students are enrolled in the Stoddard County high school.

But the band room hasn't always been cramped for space. When Moses first started directing 10 years ago, there were about 45 members in the high school band. That number doubled this year. Two years ago, 115 students enrolled in the class.

"There's a rumor circulating south of here that band is required at Advance," Moses said with a laugh. "But it isn't true. It's like going to college, you just go to band."

The key to the band program's success doesn't have anything to do with his teaching style; it's community support, Moses said.

"Everybody supports the program," he said. "We are all part of a team. I've had other people ask me how I recruit, but I never had to. It's community pride and school pride. They like to do a good job."

And they have the record to prove it. Many of the band's trophies and awards are scattered around the small classroom. The band won awards for marching in the SEMO District Fair the past three years and has been recognized for its performances at the Stoddard County Fair for at least eight years. It also received top ratings at district competitions for seven of the past 10 years.

"A trophy is good for about 30 seconds," Moses said. "But the pride from working hard and how they feel at that moment lasts longer. That's what it's about."

Moses doesn't like to take the credit for the band's accomplishments. He doesn't have his picture taken with them for the school yearbook, and he doesn't march alongside them at performances, preferring the sidewalk instead.

"It's all about the kids. They're the ones doing the work," he said. "I cannot play 100 horns at the same time. They should get the credit. I get a paycheck; that's my reward."

Moses said his job is solely to prepare the students for a performance. The band performs on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Puxico. In two weeks they will compete at a district music festival in Cape Girardeau.

Unlike other clubs and school activities, band is not an extracurricular activity. Music education is part of the state curriculum, Moses said.

"A lot of people used to view band as an extracurricular club," he said. "But it's a co-curricular activity because you get a grade for band but perform after school."

Even though most of the band members are also members of clubs or play school sports, there isn't a conflict.

"The same kids who go to FFA convention and FHA convention while they are in cheerleading and basketball are also part of the band," Moses said, adding that all but two of the players on the basketball team are also band members. "We've got to work together because we have the same kids in all the activities."

Senior Meridith Wheetley, who has been a band member for six years, said there hasn't been any conflict between a band performance and her involvement in pep club, student council, science club or Beta club.

Seeing students involved in multiple school activities is one of the benefits of teaching in a small district. Another benefit is that the community wholeheartedly supports the school and its programs, Moses said.

When the students needed new marching uniforms five years ago, the booster club raised the necessary $30,000. Last April, the community passed an $800,000 bond issue to pay for a new school building. The measure passed with more than 95 percent of the vote.

When the cost of the new 100,000-square-foot multipurpose building ran high, some residents started collecting donations to fill the gap. By December, the Advance Public Schools Foundation had collected $250,000 to pay for the building.

"When 97 percent of the community supports something, you know that the people have a good feeling about what's going on at the school," Moses said. "There are good people in this community and that's the bottom line."