Volume 8, Number 3 September 2, 2016

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!” The Blanco ISD

Band “Feeling Good” about Fall Marching Show “We’re really pushing to the edge of what we’re capable of.”—Brian Hecimovich

The Blanco Panther Band has been working hard since

July 25th in preparations for the upcoming marching season.

“Summer Band was a lot of fun!,” said band director Brian

Hecimovich. “

During the heat of August, the band spent mornings work-

ing on basic marching fundamentals, and then had profes-

sional musicians come in and give lessons on individual in-

struments, musicianship, as well as the show music.

In the afternoon the band would come together for full

band practice, and usually end with something fun.

Despite the long, hard, hot days, Hecimovich and the Band

are feeling good about their preparations.

“Feeling Good”

The title of this year’s show is “Feeling Good.”

“The music is marching band arrangements and variations

on tunes some of the band members have already played, but

we upped the difficulty and are really pushing to the edge on

what we’re capable of,” said Hecimovich.

The opening number is a Latin tune called “El Cumban-

chero, that showcases a large percussion feature at the begin-

ning and transitions to its Latin roots through the rest of the

song.

The second selection is a slower jazz ballad called

Blanco Panther Band, 2016—2017.

(Photo Dorothy Hecimovich)

“Feeling Good,” made famous by singer Michael Bublé. The ar-

rangement has a beautiful trumpet solo at the beginning played by

the Band’s lead trumpet player Jeremy Kindla.

The last song is an arrangement of Uptown Funk made popular a

just a few years ago by Bruno Mars.

“It is a blast to play, and will feature a surprise from our Drum

Major Sebastian Thomas toward the end of the song,” said Heci-

movich.

“All in all, it should turn out to be a fun and entertaining show for

all to see, and I am looking forward to getting it all on the field and

begin competitions.”

Hecimovich added, “Assistants Brandon Aly and Danet Conard

make a great team, and I am so excited they are here in Blanco!

They are the true secret to the Band’s success.”

“The Blanco Band

Boosters put in a ton of

work, and without their

support, we would not be

able to make it out the

band hall door Friday

night. Thank you for all

the support and the thank-

less jobs you are doing!”

Board of Trustees

Darrel Wagner, President

Charles Riley, Vice President Tim Nance, Secretary

Joe Hernandez

Troy Immel Larry Kuebel

Liza Struck

Superintendent

Dr. Buck Ford

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 3 Page 2

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

***Breaking News***

Blanco CoAPT Awarded Drug Free Communities Grant Grant Award is $125,000 a Year for Five Years

Blanco ISD Superintendent Dr. Buck Ford was all smiles

Friday morning when while reading through his emails, he

clicked on the one with the subject “Notice of Award.”

“It was from SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental

Health Services Administration)” said Ford. “It said that Blanco

ISD had been awarded $125,000 to support the Blanco Coali-

tion on Awareness, Prevention, and Treatment of Substance

Abuse (CoAPT). My reaction was ecstatic.”

The award is the culmination of a lot of work by a multitude

of community volunteers who met over the course of many

months to address issues related to youth substance abuse.

“I must thank all the community volunteers who participated

in our CoAPT meetings, and hung in there and believed in a

dream. I can’t tell these volunteers how much their belief and

dedication is valued, recognized, and appreciated.”

“The wonderful thing about this is that Blanco has set itself

up in the best position possible to address the problems of

youth substance abuse. This is great for the community.”

Ford went on to say that the idea for a community-wide ap-

proach to addressing youth substance abuse began over three

years ago.

“I had people inquiring of me what the school was going to

do about youth substance abuse,” said Ford. “I researched the

subject, and discovered through research, that to successfully

impact youth substance abuse, it takes a community effort. The

school can’t do it alone.”

“I had read the research, but I didn’t have a vision on how to

implement it,” said Ford.

It was two years ago when he received an email regarding

the Drug Free Communities grant.

“I read the criteria for the grant application, and recognized

that it provided a model that addressed all the components of a

research based, community-wide approach to youth substance

abuse. I decided to use it as a structure, and we went from

there.”

The Drug Free Communities structure includes representa-

tives from twelve sectors of the community, who in combina-

tion create strategies and implement programs to address is-

sues identified at the local level.

“This is great,” said Ford. “The grant is for $125,000 a year

for five years. It is research based. And, it empowers the seg-

ments of the community by providing support to accomplish

this common goal.”

“This is great for Blanco.”

Blanco Elementary Hosts

New Student Breakfast

New students at Blanco Elementary.

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 3 Page 3

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

Underage Drinking:

You Binge, You Bust (Part 2)

As part of our effort to reduce substance abuse by our young peo-

ple, The Bell will be running Public Service Announcements each

week to educate students and parents in regards to substance abuse.

Today’s information, the second this series, comes from a pamphlet

titled “Underage Drinking: You Binge, You Bust,” published by Edu-

cation Specialty Publishing LLC, Metairie, LA, 2010.

Binge Drinking

Young people often drink in “binges”—a lot at one time.

Average underage drinkers consume over five drinks on a sin-

gle occasion. Five drinks in a row is binge drinking which can

lead to alcohol poisoning or even death.

What is Alcohol Poisoning?

Alcohol is poison. The symptoms of a hangover (groggy,

splitting headache, dehydration, and vomiting) are signs of

alcohol poisoning. Alcohol poisoning is serious and sometimes

deadly.

When the body absorbs alcohol, it directly impacts the cen-

tral nervous system, slowing breathing, heart rate, and the gag

reflex. This can lead to choking, coma, and death.

Alcohol poisoning occurs after drinking too many alcoholic

beverages in a short period of time. Guzzling, drinking games,

and contests can very well leave a person severely ill or dead.

Blanco Elementary hosted a breakfast for new students last

Friday.

“We have twenty-one new students,” said counselor Patricia

Mangold. “Students enjoyed breakfast, were given a tour of the

school, and met important people around campus.”

September 2—11

Fri, Sept. 2 Kay Campbell

Wed, Sept. 7 Danet Suarez

Thurs, Sept. 8 Jason Marek

Sat, Sept. 10 Rosalind Ellis

Sun, Sept. 11 Jason Murphree

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 3 Page 4

Volleyball and Football vs. Canyon Lake by Diana Schwind, The Blanco County News

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

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