On Tuesday, Jan. 20, seven Clarke eighth grade band members participated in the Simpson College Orpheus Honor Band at Simpson College in Indianola.
Prior to this event, their band teacher Christie Averweg asked the participants to assist Izzy Buddenhagen the day of the festival with carrying her heavy tuba across the college campus to the different rehearsal areas.
Averweg said, “The tuba is a very large and heavy instrument, especially in comparison to the size of Izzy. Unfortunately, her tuba case does not have wheels on it.”
Kyle Haltom, a bari sax player and honor band participant, took initiative by volunteering to construct a cart for his classmate to use. He came up with a design and built a sturdy cart with durable wheels and a strap to hold the tuba in place. He even carpeted the top to protect the tuba case and painted “Clarke Band” on the sides.
Haltom completed this entire project outside of the school day. Averweg offered to reimburse Haltom for the materials and labor, but he would not accept any payment for his work.
Averweg said, “I was very impressed with the quality of Kyle’s project. It is obvious that Kyle put a great deal of time and care into designing and building the cart. The cart worked so effectively at honor band. Plus, this handy cart can be used by Izzy for future band trips, as well as for other middle school tuba players in future years.”