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I am not afraid to admit that I am a band geek. I enjoy playing the drums. This year, I started my first year on the quints. For anyone who is unfamiliar with their instruments, the quints are a spread of five differently-sized and tuned drums. Since the quints in our tiny little school band are an older model, they weigh about fifty or more pounds. That's not too bad, but after wearing them for an hour, you start to feel the pain.
This year, we had two temporary teachers; A student teacher from the University of Toledo, and a quint player in the UT band. The quint player went by the name of Chico and he was our drumline instructor for the season. Our drum section was quite small, and I was the only girl (playing the heaviest and most difficult instrument!) Never before had we been given any special training, so this was a new battlefield for all of us.
Every monday, Chico would pull the nine of us out of band class and run us through drills like the military. He taught us new drum cadences, the fundamentals of marching, and discipline. The last one didn't sink in too well with some of the other players. Soon enough, we became his protegees and we were a cut and polished drum line. But it wasn't all tough work. During after-school drum practices, we would get pizza and dance around the band room like goof balls. Chico was a serious and yet really fun person. But he was also a really good teacher.
For our last show, we did something that no other band in the history of our little country highschool has ever done. We did a seperate drumline feature. We played all of our catchy new cadences and even used cool special effects like putting powder on the drums and the line was enveloped in a giant booming cloud of white powder. Even our little freshman cymbal player was flipping his cymbals everywhere. It was the coolest thing we've ever done for our band. He didn't admit it, but according to our student band teacher, Chico was acting as giddy as a schoolgirl during our feature. While we were playing, he was jumping up and down and giggling, which took us all by surprise because that is not usually the way that cops act. (I didn't mention that earlier, but Chico is a cop.)
During the bus ride down the the Circleville Pumpkin festival, the Student teacher and Chico played cherades with my friend and I and shared stories. Is there any kind of teacher that is better than the kind you can make friends with? That was my overall goal, to be Chico's friend.