Band's 1st night on the road to DC

January 17, 2009; 3:30am:

You would think that the deep breathing sounds of more than 50 teenagers sitting behind me and the soft drone of the tour bus that we’re on would be enough to lull me to sleep. Especially, since I feel like I’m running on the fumes of my reserve tank of consciousness and it’s 3:30 in the morning. But I can’t seem to drop off.

Perhaps part of my alertness is the difficulty sleeping in a sitting position, but it is more likely that I am so caught up in the excitement of what has transpired with this high school band that I’ve become a part of that I can’t stop thinking about how lucky I am to be experiencing each and every moment.

It really has the makings of a movie script. Four years ago this high school band had taken a hit when the last band director left to go to another school. It’s not unusual for band members to quit when band directors leave, but the number was staggering; 35 members was what the new band director had to work with. And morale that was at an all time low.

After working hard at building them up; playing coach, counselor, parent and teacher, the band now was more than 100 strong. But Zac kept building. He read the kids a letter that he penned, pretending to be someone from the Inaugural Committee who was telling the band that they had been accepted into the parade. “What if,” he asked the kids. What if?

Their application was mailed with all the kids’ hearts and souls represented by cards and drawings and letters and a DVD of the band’s performance and verbalized wishes. Letters from state congressmen, parents, community members and alumni were included in their packet of dreams and…off it went.

In the meantime, CBS 46 did a story on our school as part of their “Cool Schools” segment and in it, anchor Mike Brooks said that this may not be the biggest school that he’s seen, but that we have the biggest heart. I can’t help but believe that that big heart was beating loudly in the eyes of the Inaugural Committee because South Cobb’s Blue Eagle Band was picked from more than 400 applicants in Georgia and was among more than 1,300 applications nationwide. We got it!

I say “we” because it seems that at this school that one person’s successes are everyone’s successes. We all share as a collective whole and it’s a characteristic of these particular students at South Cobb that I admire.

The ensuing media attention has been nothing short of staggering. The announcement at the band banquet, followed by Q100’s fundraising efforts, followed by private and community donations, followed by all the little side stories have all been part of the journey up to this point. It has made this band an object of pride for the community and something that the people in this community can sink their teeth into amongst the wave after wave of bad news and economic woes. Tonight, the gym was full of community members who wanted to send this band off with cheers and hugs and be part of their journey.

All the while this has been going on, Zac has made sure that his students see the wonder of it all. Making sure that they don’t take for granted what is going on, he tells them to “take it all in” and appreciate all that you have been given by this community.

And as I watch mile markers pass by me, framing an unfamiliar landscape, I can’t help but think to myself that life is really just a series of moments. Most of these moments are fleeting and you have to have your eyes and your mind open to notice them all. In a few months, these kids will graduate and move on to college and out of their parents’ home. Friends will all go in different directions. This moment that they are experiencing right now will be replaced by other experiences in their lives. But life passes by as fast as these mile markers and you really do have to pay attention and remember what the landscape looked like as you pass. You have to see yourself as part of each moment and take it in. Yes, there will be more moments in your life but they won’t all be the same and you might have trouble remembering them all, unless you take it all in.

I know why sleeping is hard tonight. I just don’t want to miss anything.