On Thursday, December 12, during the monthly Board of Education meeting, the Coffee High School Band and Show Choir were recognized for their continued achievements in the Fine Arts.
The high school band, under the direction of Mr. Steve Myers, recently received numerous awards through competition for their performance level and talent.
This fall at the Empire Classic in Statesboro, the band earned superior ratings from every judge. The competition band performed in the silver division Class AA and again received superior ratings for each area. The Color Guard, Auxiliary, Percussion and band won Best in Class. They also placed 1st in the Silver Division.
At the Sound of Silver Invitational in Blackshear, the Competitive Group received all superior ratings from all judges once again. The Percussion, Auxiliary and Band were Best in Class, 1st Place in Class AA.
Just recently, five students were selected for the All-District Jazz Ensemble. They are Felix Tinejero – Trumpet, Isai Artiga – 1st Chair Trumpet, Bennett Bush – Guitar, Dominic Taylor – Trap Set, and Joseph DeLoach – 1st Chair Alto Sax. All of the students who auditioned were selected. Many more will be selected for the All-District, All-Region, and likely All-State Concert Bands by the time school starts second semester as auditions are upcoming.
Assisting Mr. Myers at the high school is Alex Cruz and Tania Myers along with the middle school band directors Cory Hobson, David Arambalo and Chorus Director Kaitlyn Moore.
If you happened to attend this year’s Christmas Parade, both the middle and high school bands performed. With two trains coming through town that stopped the parade, the band students had a large time freestyling as they waited. It lasted so long they had time to do the band chant and an extra percussion cadence. “It will be hard to top that experience,” stated Mr. Myers.
In addition to the recent accolades of the high school band members the board of education also saluted the Choral Program under the direction of Tania Myers.
The Coffee High Show Choir is known not only throughout Coffee County but throughout the state of Georgia and beyond. Their performances have taken them to Jekyll Island for the state-wide Professional Association of Georgia Educators Conference and the state wide 4-H meetings at Rock Eagle. They have earned numerous awards such as Best in Class and Superior rating at the Panama City Beach Music Festival and Superior Ratings and Grand Champion at OrlandoFest, which took place at Universal studios in Orlando. The Choral Program also had a group selected to perform the National Anthem for the Atlanta Hawks. This fall, Cailey Martinez and Gracee Myers were selected by audition for the Georgia Music Educators Association All State Reading Choir and the All-State Chorus, which is very competitive. The All-State Reading Choir consists of only the top 100 singers from the entire state. The Mixed Choir achieved Superior Ratings at the state Evaluation in Performance as well as Sight-Reading. This past summer, the girls’ trio of Zaria Moore, Cailey Martinez and Gracee Myers went to Macon for the State Literary Meet and placed 1st in the region and 4th in the state. We were fortunate several months ago to have these young, ladies perform for our schoolboard meeting.
The Coffee High Show Choir recently performed at the opening ceremonies of the Georgia School Board Association’s annual conference.
Superintendent Dr. Morris Leis, presented the Superintendents Award to both Tania and Steve Myers.
“We are very fortunate to have the talent of Mr. and Mrs. Myers, who have been a part of our district for over 25 years. Having worked in other systems prior to Coffee County, together they have over 30 years of experience.” Stated Dr. Leis. “Many of their former students have gone on to major in music and become educators or performers in their own right.”
The new Clayton Mathis Performing Arts Center and John M. Maley Auditorium is nearing completion on the campus of Coffee High School. This new state of the art facility will certainly compliment the talents of the band, show choir and other areas of fine arts.