{"id":158940,"date":"2022-10-11T21:49:49","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T02:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=158940"},"modified":"2022-10-13T03:49:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T08:49:00","slug":"cougar-pride-marching-band-bound-for-state-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/10\/11\/cougar-pride-marching-band-bound-for-state-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Cougar Pride Marching Band off to state"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a first in Van Wert High School marching band history, as the band is marching on to state level competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 58-member Cougar Pride Marching Band qualified for the Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA) state finals for the first time during Saturday\u2019s performance at the Versailles Marching Band Invitational, held at HB Hole Field. It was a local OMEA adjudicated event attended by 18 different marching bands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach week in September and October events are held throughout the state, and we performed our show for a panel of six adjudicators who each offered comments on our performance,\u201d band director Bob Sloan explained. \u201cEach adjudicator then assigned a score for the band. Later that evening during the awards ceremony we learned that we earned third place out of the five bands in Class B.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
For the first time in school history, the Van Wert Cougar Pride Marching Band will compete in the OMEA state finals. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClassification is determined by school enrollment,\u201d Sloan added. \u201cLater in the ceremony we learned that we were also awarded a \u2018superior\u2019 rating which qualifies us to perform at the state finals later this month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An excited Sloan noted he and the entire band staff (Scott Turner, Matt Saunier and Chad Clum) are proud of the band members for achieving this historic achievement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to always give our very best effort and work our hardest every single day,\u201d Sloan said. \u201cEvery time we step out onto the performance field we want to give our best performance. After the performance Saturday we all felt really great about our show. Their performance was awesome and after that the awards are the icing on the cake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were supported at the event by truck drivers, bus drivers, and chaperones that all need our special \u2018thank you\u2019 along with those parents that came down to watch their students perform\u201d he continued. \u201cWe have so much amazing community support and are so proud to represent Van Wert every time we perform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High school principal Bob Priest noted while the symphonic band has qualified for state on multiple occasions, it\u2019s nice to see the marching band make school history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

“I am extremely proud of what our marching band has accomplished this fall,\u201d Priest said. \u201cOur marching band has been participating in competitions for quite some time, but the emphasis has been on the experience, rather than the competition. I have always been grateful that we have students and an instructor who have been willing to give their time (weekends) for the purposes of attending these competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have an exceptionally strong tradition of scoring superior ratings in symphonic band but now, to receive this rating in marching band with an opportunity to compete at the state level is so very exciting, Priest added. \u201cOur students and staff do amazing things, and this is another great example for them to be rewarded for their hard work and talents.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Sloan, the OMEA state finals are at three different sites \u2013 Piqua, Hilliard and Medina October 29 and 30, and November 5 and 6. He said Van Wert is looking at the 30th at Piqua, with the time yet to be determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince we have never qualified this was not a date we had on our calendar, so I am sure some families are trying to shuffle some things around to make it happen,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe’ll figure that out soon and then plan for whatever comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor It\u2019s a first in Van Wert High School marching band history, as the band is marching on to state level competition. The 58-member Cougar Pride Marching Band qualified for the Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA) state finals for the first time during Saturday\u2019s performance at the Versailles Marching Band Invitational, held at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 07:56:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158940"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158992,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158940\/revisions\/158992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}