Carl Albert Middle School Band

School Starts on Wednesday! Please mark these Band events on your calendar!!

Sixteen (!) CAMS Band students attended the University of Arkansas Summer Band Camp this week. They are concluding camp with a final concert today! We are so proud of this group for their dedication to improving as performers, and we are excited they took advantage of the opportunity to go to camp! A shout out to Ms. Omstead who worked as a counselor at the camp, and a big thank you to our CAMS Band Parent Club for providing scholarships to encourage our students to attend camp!!

Rising 9th Graders
Jackson Borrego
Vivienne Chairez
Leonard Giles
Sofia Kendrick
Azarayah Marquez
Etana Oigo
Joshua Reed
Tre Sherman
Lillie Snowbarger
Lex Stuck

Rising 8th Graders
Bentley Case
Dayton Lang
Rawling Richardson

Rising 7th Graders
Caiome Mackarness
Zion Marquez
Edson Spencer

Some of our CAMS Band students enjoying their first day at The University of Arkansas Summer Music Camp!

Prime Day is ending tomorrow, and we would love it if you considered purchasing items from our CAMS Band Amazon Wish List!! Thank you!!

Check out my list on Amazon

The CAMS Band has 16 students who received a CAMS Band Parent Club Summer Camp Scholarship to attend summer band camps! Our first camp attendee was French horn player Delta Veazey-Daniel who went to the SWOSU Middle School Band Camp this week!! Please consider supporting our CAMS Band Parent Club by joining or donating money so we can continue to send student to camp!!

Happy Father’s Day to all of our Band Dads out there!!

While this essay talks a lot about high school band, middle school is where it all starts! Learning resilience, leadership, working hard, being a teammate with the added bonus of learning to express yourself using music. It all starts here. Keep supporting your young musician - it will pay great rewards!

There is a moment in every music parent’s life where you realize this thing is not just an activity anymore.

At first, it feels simple.

They wanted to play an instrument. They wanted to be with their friends. They wanted to try something new.

Maybe we encouraged them. Maybe they begged us. Maybe we had no idea what we were signing up for.

And then suddenly, there are rehearsals on the calendar, shoes that need to be found, forms that need to be signed, water jugs by the door, uniforms that somehow require more emotional management than a mortgage closing, and a kid who is either wildly excited or completely silent because they are exhausted beyond words.

And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, we start to see it.

We see why they love it. It is not just the notes. It is the feeling of standing inside something bigger than themselves. It’s because you are there with them.

It is the first time they realize that their effort matters to someone else. That if they don’t show up, something is missing. That if they push through the hard day, the whole group gets stronger.

It is the sound of a chord locking in after weeks of struggle. It is the bus ride home. It is the inside jokes. It is the older student who quietly helps the nervous freshman. It is the director saying, “Again,” and somehow they find one more rep in them. It is the moment they stop looking around to see if they belong and start realizing they already do. It’s when they look around and they see you.

That is why they love it.

And that is why we keep walking alongside them.

Even when it gets chaotic. Even when we are tired. Even when the schedule feels impossible. Even when the communication is imperfect. Even when the car smells like wet socks, fast food, sunscreen, and regret. Even when we are not entirely sure where we are supposed to be standing, what we are supposed to be carrying, or why there are suddenly 47 things labeled “urgent.”

We keep showing up because we know this is doing something in them.

Something deep.

Music has a way of building kids in places we cannot always reach as parents.

It teaches discipline without a lecture. It teaches resilience without a speech. It teaches them how to be part of a team, how to recover from mistakes, how to listen, how to lead, how to wait, how to work, how to care.

And sometimes, it gives them a place to put all the feelings they do not know how to say out loud.

So yes, we walk beside them.

Not because it is easy or even organized… Not because we always understand the system, the schedule, the tradition, the jargon, or the reason they need black socks again when we just bought black socks last week.

We walk beside them because we can see what this is becoming. We can see the kid who is growing inside the music.

We can see the confidence forming. The friendships deepening. The courage stretching. The identity taking shape.

And one day, long after the last note rings out, they may not remember every score, every placement, every fundraiser, every rehearsal, or every time we sat in the parking lot waiting for them to finally come out.

But they will remember how it felt.

They will remember that they belonged to something.

And hopefully, they will remember that we were there.

Tired, confused, proud, emotional, probably holding a garment bag or a water bottle or a granola bar they swore they didn’t need.

But there.

Walking beside them.

Because we knew.

This was never just about the music.

Summer Band lessons for our rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders with Mrs. Marks start today! We have a lot of openings over the next few weeks. Want some summer help? There is a Thrillshare group called “Mrs. Mark’s Summer Band Program”. You can find the Sign Up Genius link there. Or email me at [email protected] if you need help!

Happy National Band Director Day to our awesome band staff!!! Thank you for all you do for our students and just for bringing your best selves everyday!

Congratulations to the CAMS 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Bands on their fantastic concert on Friday, May 8!! You should be proud of all your success this year! Lots of wonderful music and great memories were made!!