Oboe pro: Change is good
By Tim Gallaghertgallagher@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Sunday, December 21, 2008
Shayna Cooper, a junior at Odebolt-Arthur High School, plays oboe and trumpet for school's music program. Cooper is excited about her senior year, one in which she and the rest of her classmates will attend school at the high school in nearby Ida Grove as O-A and Battle Creek-Ida Grove combine their high school and middle school student bodies. (Photo by Tim Gallagher)
ODEBOLT, Iowa -- I love small-school students for their ability to roll with the punches.
Case in point: Shayna Cooper, a junior at Odebolt-Arthur High School.
When instructor Laurie Currie's small Trojan band needed another trumpet, she tapped Cooper, an oboe pro.
"I've played oboe since fifth grade," said Cooper, who hails from Odebolt. "I played it until my sophomore year, then switched to an instrument (trumpet) that was marching and pep band appropriate."
This "brassy" conversion didn't stop her from earning first-chair honors in the oboe section at the Northwest Iowa Honor Band the past three years. Cooper loves the trumpet, but still plays oboe in concert band.
She took on another change with gusto as this school year began. Her tiny Odebolt-Arthur band joined with marchers from neighbor Battle Creek-Ida Grove, keeping in step with the football program which began a sharing agreement.
The high school and middle school student bodies will merge when the 2009-10 school year commences in August. They'll also combine forces in all sports. Shrinking enrollments drove the change. A decade ago, O-A educated 507 students. Today, that number is 346.
Again, Cooper will adjust. She's looking forward to a big change her senior year, when she'll attend school in Ida Grove. Rather than have a senior class of 26 students, she'll be one of 60-some.
"Our marching band experience this fall went really well," she said. "We blended together. All in all, this change is going to be very good."
Didn't hurt that the new Falcons football team went 7-2 during the regular season and won a substate game. Larry Allen, the high school athletic director, said the boys from Odebolt-Arthur were a bit depressed when football ended last month.
"Football went a long way toward showing the kids from both districts could get along," said Allen. "The boys from here (O-A) said they missed seeing their teammates from BC-IG each day at practice."
"There was a lot of rivalry between the schools, but our football boys and the boys from BCIG say our ideas about each other were completely wrong," Cooper said.
Allen reported the schools sold 1,500 shirts this fall, shirts hailing the new era of OA-BCIG. Cooper sported one Wednesday as the Odebolt-Arthur musicians showed off the new fight song. Currently, both districts are taking submissions for lyrics to fit the song, an adaptation of the tune used by Louisiana State University.
Budding country music star Jessica Gunderson, a sixth-grader from Odebolt, entered. To me, her first stanza is a winner: "We are the Falcons! The mighty Falcons! We take pride and joy in things. You'll never know how good we are...Until you come to our games!"
Her hand-written lyrics note "eight counts of rest" and "seven counts of rest" between various stanzas. Awfully good for an 11 year old.
"I'm really into music. I like writing songs about life. When I grow up, I want to be a famous singer, like Shania Twain," she said.
When she's not singing, this future Falcon helps her dad, Tim, combine corn and soybeans on their farm. She also plays basketball and softball. And like Cooper, this O-A musician carries two instruments for her school band.
"I play trumpet and I've learned to play percussion to help Mrs. Currie when she needs a drummer in the band," Gunderson said.
These versatile O-A Trojanettes, I think, will soar just fine as new Falcons.
Video
See the Odebolt-Arthur band members play their school's new fight song. Go to www.siouxcityjournal.com
Case in point: Shayna Cooper, a junior at Odebolt-Arthur High School.
When instructor Laurie Currie's small Trojan band needed another trumpet, she tapped Cooper, an oboe pro.
"I've played oboe since fifth grade," said Cooper, who hails from Odebolt. "I played it until my sophomore year, then switched to an instrument (trumpet) that was marching and pep band appropriate."
This "brassy" conversion didn't stop her from earning first-chair honors in the oboe section at the Northwest Iowa Honor Band the past three years. Cooper loves the trumpet, but still plays oboe in concert band.
She took on another change with gusto as this school year began. Her tiny Odebolt-Arthur band joined with marchers from neighbor Battle Creek-Ida Grove, keeping in step with the football program which began a sharing agreement.
The high school and middle school student bodies will merge when the 2009-10 school year commences in August. They'll also combine forces in all sports. Shrinking enrollments drove the change. A decade ago, O-A educated 507 students. Today, that number is 346.
Again, Cooper will adjust. She's looking forward to a big change her senior year, when she'll attend school in Ida Grove. Rather than have a senior class of 26 students, she'll be one of 60-some.
"Our marching band experience this fall went really well," she said. "We blended together. All in all, this change is going to be very good."
Didn't hurt that the new Falcons football team went 7-2 during the regular season and won a substate game. Larry Allen, the high school athletic director, said the boys from Odebolt-Arthur were a bit depressed when football ended last month.
"Football went a long way toward showing the kids from both districts could get along," said Allen. "The boys from here (O-A) said they missed seeing their teammates from BC-IG each day at practice."
"There was a lot of rivalry between the schools, but our football boys and the boys from BCIG say our ideas about each other were completely wrong," Cooper said.
Allen reported the schools sold 1,500 shirts this fall, shirts hailing the new era of OA-BCIG. Cooper sported one Wednesday as the Odebolt-Arthur musicians showed off the new fight song. Currently, both districts are taking submissions for lyrics to fit the song, an adaptation of the tune used by Louisiana State University.
Budding country music star Jessica Gunderson, a sixth-grader from Odebolt, entered. To me, her first stanza is a winner: "We are the Falcons! The mighty Falcons! We take pride and joy in things. You'll never know how good we are...Until you come to our games!"
Her hand-written lyrics note "eight counts of rest" and "seven counts of rest" between various stanzas. Awfully good for an 11 year old.
"I'm really into music. I like writing songs about life. When I grow up, I want to be a famous singer, like Shania Twain," she said.
When she's not singing, this future Falcon helps her dad, Tim, combine corn and soybeans on their farm. She also plays basketball and softball. And like Cooper, this O-A musician carries two instruments for her school band.
"I play trumpet and I've learned to play percussion to help Mrs. Currie when she needs a drummer in the band," Gunderson said.
These versatile O-A Trojanettes, I think, will soar just fine as new Falcons.
Video
See the Odebolt-Arthur band members play their school's new fight song. Go to www.siouxcityjournal.com
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