Taryn had fun with friends at Malerie's swimming pool. Malerie's mom sent this picture to me and I love how much fun they're having. Our pool never seems to be ready for the summer time, so it's nice to have friends who have pools ready for swimming even before school is out for the summer.
Abby and her friends Selma and Nat coached the juniors for the Powerbuff game of volleyball - seniors vs juniors. I was able to get into the game with my employee ID and since Abby was coaching and Tessa was playing with the drumline, I was happy to be able to attend.
Abby spent weeks practicing with the boys who were good athletes, but weren't that familiar with volleyball rules. She had to teach them the rules and work with them on plays and positions. It was fun to see her in her element and to watch the boys play. The juniors lost to the seniors, but it was ok. I loved seeing Tessa and her friends in the drumline too. They played for the crowd and kept the spirit alive with all of their cadences.
The Franklin band always puts on an end-of-year concert with their feeder middle schools, so Aubrey and Tessa were in the same concert. There were so many people, but they each played a couple songs and then they all played a song together. Aubrey was right on the end, so I had to get a closeup picture of her and then one of her half of the band.
Tessa was in the back with all of the percussion and because there were so many players, the high schoolers didn't even play. They just made sure the middle school players were on beat. She had fun reuniting with the younger kids that she knew last year from Hornedo.
They gave time for parents to get close up pictures of their middle school students, but since I had already taken a picture of Aubrey before it started, I walked to the back to get a picture of Tessa too. I took one with Tessa and Gisele, and then I took one of all the other Franklin band kids: Andrew, Josh, Andres, Tessa, and Kevin.
Tessa was invited to be a part of her friend's quince. It's not until January of next year, but they purchased the dresses already. It's for her cross country friend, Ayla. We were not in town when all of the girls went shopping together, but they got one for Tessa once they decided on the style. We went over to Ayla's house to try on the dress and Tessa was super excited about it. We just hope it will still fit in 7-8 months.
Tessa's percussion class had a competition where they got to play all of the numbers that they have been working on in their class. I had only heard about them and listened to Tessa's part as she practiced on the piano. It's much more fun to hear all of the parts togethers. Tyler and I raced across town, but still missed their first number. Three of the boys played a trio which was really good, so I took a picture of them for Tessa. It was JD, Fred, and Steven. Then they played another ensemble that everyone played in, so we were able to hear that one. Tessa played the marimba for that number and she was in the front row. It sounded really cool.
The number we missed was the ensemble with only seven of the kids in it, but it's the one they're taking to state. It's called Shared Space, and they all play on the same marimba for most of the number. I was sad that I missed the performance. Luckily, another parent recorded it and was able to send that to me. They played one more ensemble with everyone and Tessa played the vibraphone for that piece and it was my favorite. It had a catchy tune and a really awesome ending. It was harder to see Tessa since she was in the middle row, but it was fun watching all of the kids performing together and having a good time.
Tessa ended up staying until it was all over to hear the awards. They placed in the top three for all of their numbers and received these trophies. Tessa was happy to be there to accept the awards and they posted this picture on the band app so everyone in band could see how awesome the percussion did at their competition.
Aubrey's band banquet was the same night as Tessa's band banquet, so I didn't get any pictures of her before she left for the evening. Tessa graciously let Aubrey borrow her quince dress, so Aubrey was excited to get all dressed up with her friends. It's a dinner and a dance, but parents don't attend, so there was no way for me to get any pictures unless Aubrey took them. Luckily, she and her friends took a few, so I was able to get these from her. Here she is with some of her 8th grade friends. It's Bella, Aurelie, Aubrey, and Anna Grace.
Aubrey got really close with some of the 8th graders in band towards the end of the year. She was sad that they were moving up to high school next year and some were even moving away; but she was happy to spend the last couple events of the year with them. Here she is with Bella and Aurelie.
Tessa's band banquet was the same night as Aubrey's, but parents were encouraged to attend the high school band banquet, for which I was grateful. Tyler was not able to go since he was with Abby at an NHS event, so I went alone and sat with other band parents. We had dinner and then they did awards. Tessa won the Miss Goofy-Goober award for the percussion section. Nicholas got the Mr. Goofy-Goober award too, so I had to get a picture of them together.
Tessa was also awarded the best percussionist award by Mr. P. She was shocked because the seniors in percussion are all very good players. Mr. P said that she worked really hard and always put in the effort to get better and because of that, she earned it. She stopped long enough for me to get a picture of her before she sat back down with her percussion friends.
The kids had fun dancing after the awards. I ended up staying because I was Tessa's ride home. I just watched from my table and took pictures every once in awhile. Here they are dancing when they were able to get Mr. P to join them on the dance floor.
Tessa and Nicholas were the life of the party and you can see why they earned the spirit award. They were front and center for all of the dances. Tessa's closest friend in band is the only other girl in the percussion section, Gisele. They had fun together at the banquet and I had to get a picture of them together.
After the dance was over, we had to get some final pictures. Here's the entire percussion section. Tessa was very sad about the three seniors since their days together were getting fewer and fewer.
They made cards for each of the seniors and Tessa wanted a picture with each of them too. Here she is with Fred, the section leader. He was awarded the top jazz player award, so that made Tessa feel a little better that she got the top percussionist award instead of him. Tessa also loved Josh. He was her closest senior friend from band. He was her bass section leader and she got along with him really well. She talked about missing him the most.
Her final senior picture was with Steven. He was the senior tenors player and she loved getting to know him this year. I loved this picture because Gisele and Josh both photo bombed, and it turned out to be a hilarious picture in the background. Tessa also had her picture taken with Marcos, another percussion player.
A few more pictures before we headed home. She took one with Gisele, Steven, and Josh and then they had to take a final bass line picture in order from top bass: Tessa, Andres, Josh, and Mauricio. Tessa loves band and I love seeing her so happy. Band was one of my happiest memories from high school, so I'm so glad that Tessa had a great experience in band too.
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