Fifteen middle school band members will represent Clarke in the South Central Conference Honor Band on Monday, March 20.
Other schools in the conference include Albia, Centerville, Chariton, Davis County, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, and Knoxville.
Each school will send seventh-grade students and eighth-grade students to participate in this honor band. Chariton will host the event this year.
The Clarke seventh-grade band will be represented by Chailyn Beydler (flute), Sophia Hicks (clarinet), John Reynoldson (alto saxophone), Jairus Davis (tenor saxophone), Jadie Bowlsby (trumpet), and Breanna Selsor (French Horn).
The Clarke eighth-grade band will be represented by Katie Donaldson (flute), Nicole Barnard (clarinet), Guy Billington (tenor saxophone), Dylan Lundquist (bari saxophone), Hailee Fry (trumpet), Terry Starrett (French Horn), Zethann May (trombone), Cole Pontier (baritone), and Emma Bolton (percussion).
All of these band members are students of Christie Averweg, the middle school band director at Clarke.
Students have been given four pieces of music to practice in advance of the honor band. On March 20, all of the students from the various schools will rehearse together in Chariton during the afternoon as an ensemble for the first time. That evening, they will present a concert for the public.
The concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Chariton High School Johnson Auditorium. Admission to the concert is $3 per adult and $2 per student. The guest conductor will be Kim Benson. She is a former band director who currently works for Barnhouse Publications, a music publishing company in Oskaloosa.