DUVALL, Wash. — Virtual learning was hard for most teachers and students but one subject that took a big hit was music.
Trying to learn an instrument through a computer screen presents a serious challenge. Many band programs dwindled in size. Cedarcrest High School in Duvall was no exception.
Dean Snavely has been teaching music for nearly 25 years, but just took over as music director at Cedarcrest this 2021-2022 school year.
“It's been really amazing. These are the neatest kids I've ever met,” Snavely said.
Cedarcrest High School's band was once about 150 kids, however, COVID-19 related challenges and virtual learning caused the group to dwindle to a third of its former membership.
“COVID really affected this program badly,” Snavely said, “We are somewhere between 40 and 50 kids. The band that I just came from in Nevada was 350. I'm used to having that big energy you know, and when I came here, I was a little worried about that. But what's amazing is every kid is dynamic here. We are small but mighty."
The dedicated 50 students that stuck around faced an uphill battle returning to the band room.
“Everyone was super demotivated to continue band again, because they're like, ‘Oh my gosh, we're just sitting here.’ Like they didn't practice. So, that kind of like, magical feeling of knowing your instrument and playing music with your friends, we didn't get that anymore for like a whole year,” said Skyler Tan, a high school junior and clarinet player.
“The whole point about being in band is being a band. It's a group of people. If you want to be a soloist, that was all what most of last year was. So, it was hard not to be an actual group,” said senior saxophone player, Alice Lutzenhiser.
Tan, at some points, questioned her own future with the band.
“I have to admit even I was kind of thinking like, this is really not fun anymore, I'm really not having that experience that you usually have. But I stayed and I didn't want to give up something like that,” she said. “Marching band is one of the best decisions I ever made, because it was like we all bonded really well, it is a really good experience.”
The new school year brought along with it COVID-19 precautions, like masking, social distancing and specialized covers for instruments.
“It is really helpful that we get to go back even though we're all protected. It's doesn't take away from the experience of playing,” Lutzenhiser said.
While the numbers may be smaller, the overall feeling of community is larger than ever.
“Thanks to Mr. Snavely, we still have an opportunity to march even if we're not competing, we still get that like, feeling of like, teaching the new kids and we get to march on the track. And it's really fun. So I'm really happy that they still get to experience it,” said Tan.
“We present an opportunity for students to have a community and that community caters to something that they're passionate about or something that they enjoy, something they find fun,” Snavely said.
Due to the low numbers and other challenges, the band is not doing any competitions, so the focus this season is on performing at football games, preparing for concerts and state auditions to follow.
Snavely is working on ways to grow the band program in upcoming years. He encourages students who quit band to pick up their instruments one more time.
“How do we find those kids? Like, how do I find those 60 kids that stopped music because band and COVID sucked, choir and COVID sucked, you know, well, everything sucked. It wasn't band's fault. It was just COVID’s fault,” he said, “I hope that we see kids here that are freshmen this year that didn't take band come to my office and go, ‘Hey, I saw you guys at the basketball game, it was a blast. Can I join band? I was in band in middle school and dropped because of COVID.’ Absolutely. Like, come one, come all. All are welcome."