As a current student of the 312-member MIHS band program, my experience with our rehearsal space is that it has limited our overall abilities as a group. The entire band cannot fit into one room; we have resorted to practicing outside occasionally. I also often stumble upon small ensembles, both from assorted bands and orchestras, rehearsing almost on top of each other in spaces not designated for playing. With the additions of the proposed upgrade to our space included in the capital projects levy, all MIHS music students would have the necessary space to fulfill their potential as players and ensembles.

I have also worked as a band teacher’s assistant for a semester and have seen the lacking storage facilities and practice rooms that are provided to our comparatively sizeable music programs. We are very grateful for the recent gift of new marching band uniforms that we showed off for the first time this fall, but I recently joined in the effort of putting them into storage for the concert band season; our single uniform storage closet does not have the necessary storage space to tend to our growing needs. This necessary expansion would satisfy the needs of the existing student body. Currently, over 25 percent of MIHS students use one of the rooms allocated to music studies throughout the day. Please vote yes on the capital projects levy on Feb. 9. All of us, from every music program, sincerely appreciate all of the generous community support.

Jared Thomas

11th grade MIHS trumpet player