South Cobb Band

The Beauty of a Trash Can

I believe our lil’ band has been on the receiving end of such overwhelming generosity and interest because the people of  Georgia have identified with their story.  Whether it was the shared interest in music or the inspiration of a historic inauguration, each of the 1,967 donors who have given to our kids did so because they wanted to be a link in the chain that stretched from the streets of Austell to the Pennsylvania Avenue.

I can only speculate as to what our new friends and donors imagined as they reached out to our band.  Whether it was a click of a button, the writing of a check, or a visit to the school, I suspect each action was inspired by the image of a child and the inaugural parade.

 

But did they also imagine a child and a trash can?

 

Our rock star tour made a stop at the capitol building today.  Compliments of Congressman Gingrey, our students were treated to a reception in the Rayburn building followed by a private tour of the capitol.  As we passed through the underground subway that connects the buildings on the perimeter of the capitol complex, our slow stroll through this historic hall came to an abrupt stop.  I stepped to the front of the crowd of curious kids, intrigued by who or what may have been so significant that every camera was now raised to capture the moment. 

 

The moment…three stainless steel garbage cans with the seal of the United States House of Representatives.  In the eyes of my wondrous kids…this was priceless.

 

This moment is symbolic of the opportunity given to us by our 1,976 new friends.  You see…we expected our kids to cherish and capture the obvious.  The steps of the United States Capitol building, a plane suspended from the ceiling of the Smithsonian, the DC skyline along a blistery Potomac River cruise...the camera was intended for moments such as these. 

But nobody expected a trash can to inspire the same degree of hope and excitement in a child.  Similarly, I have to believe that nobody expected this band of beauties to inspire those same emotions across this entire country. 

 

My wish…I hope my kids continue to capture the priceless of moments of the garbage cans in their future.  May they never take for granted the possibilities of that which lies in immediately before their eyes and, equally as important, that which lies at the end of the rainbow in their dreams.

Thank you for making this possible.

 

Grant

 

PS - I've included a picture of the students on our bus as we approached the US Capitol.  Imagine the wave of kids shifting from the left side of the bus to the right...simply to capture a moment through the window of a bus.  I could not stop laughing...they often had no idea what it was that was on the other end of the camera lens as we drove past the endless row of buildings.  However, names of buildings are not important to this bunch...they care more about the moments.

This Magical Convoy

As I type this, I’ve got the blur of Carolina road signs in the corner of my eye.  Each one signifies that this magical convoy is one mile closer to street our dreams, Pennsylvania Avenue. 

It’s now 4am on Saturday morning, January 17.  I’m aboard the second bus of the Blue Eagle Sleeping Band.  The energy of the evening has zapped the life out of the 50+ sleeping teenagers who are now cuddled around me amidst a mass of blankets and pillows.  Each child with eyes closed.  Oh, I can’t help but wonder what they are dreaming…be it the glorious moments of the recent past or the historic anticipation of the future?  If nothing else, I know they now believe that even the most magnificent of dreams do in fact have the potential to become reality.  I am forever grateful to this community and our country for inspiring this belief in my kids.

 

We pulled out of Austell, Georgia after a rousing send-off from our community and special guests.  We packed the high school gymnasium with screaming friends and families…I can still feel the energy (and pride!) hours later.  Police escort, hundreds of high fives and smiling faces…our kids felt like rock stars.  I was particularly honored to have three dear friends and special guests as part of our send-off program tonight – Bert and Wendy from Q100 and Mike Brooks from CBS Atlanta.

Our relationship with Q100 is well documented.  What may be less familiar to the city of Atlanta is that fateful phone call on Monday, December 8.  After learning of the invitation to represent the state of Georgia in the inaugural parade, the Bert Show inquired as to historic journey and our plan for overcoming the financial barriers that inevitably stood between our families and Washington, DC.  Bert’s words that morning will be forever etched in my mind, “Not to worry, we [Q100] will own this for you.”  Nobody, not even Bert, could have imagined how their degree of “ownership” would inspire a band of teenagers and galvanize a school community.

Our relationship with Mike Brooks is equally significant and began long before this inaugural whirlwind tour.  This past fall, Mike selected South Cobb HS to be part of the Better Mornings Atlanta “Cool Schools” feature.  After spending a week with our students and their stories, Mike commented on the air, “While this school may not be the biggest in size, they do have the biggest hearts.”  I can’t help but believe that Mike’s prophetic statement could now also be repeated by any member of the inaugural committee, which selected our “hearts” from the hundreds of applications across the state of Georgia.

 

 

To all who have been a part of this story, I once again say “thank you”.   Regardless of your place in this story…whether you were part of the tunnel of love tonight that cheered our kids from the gym to the buses or, rather, are simply a curious reader of a blog…we are honored to have you as a line in the page of our story.

 

Good night,

Grant Rivera

A tired (and very proud) principal

A Band Family

Today was so so exciting! We finally arrived here in D.C. and we are so ready to march down Pa Ave. Pracatice today was good, we were focused and I can tell the band really wants this. But as a reward the band went on a nice dinner cruise down town. It was so fun.. Seeing my band director and principal dance on the dance floor was wild! There were disco lights and a D.J., everyone was dancing and just having a great time. It was amazing, these great bonding eperiences the band has been having lately is wats keeping this program alive through this whole experience! I can't wait for more things to come..

Nicole

Still Going

So winter break is coming to an end, but we are still going strong! We've already gotten together 3 times over the break, and have one more saturday morning! Tuesday the New York Times was supposed to be at practice, and we were all so excited, but I guess something didn't work out. Maybe Saturday! Only 15 more days until we depart Austell for D.C. I'm so excited! I can't wait to make Georgia proud! 

Dana Sherer

It was cold

Hey, today the band had practice tonight from 6 to 9pm. It was a good practice today, we were more focused and coming together more as a team. We didn't let the cold get to us that much, but it was freezing. But I had on shorts because I was comfortable, but Dr. Rivera is going to have a fit if I wear shorts on sat. morning. I'm just really happy that alot of members showed up today even though we're on winter break and we didn't let the weather get to us... hooray to the band!!!

Nicole

practice

Today practice was interesting... I think the band is tired ang just ready to get out of school. It's been a long semester and everybody needs the winter break to get it together. But for the most part practice was alright could have been better, we just need to learn from our mistakes.... But on a better note the band found out that we will be going to CNN on Sat. for a live broadcast and thats really exciting that the whole band will be able to go.. I'm happy. I'm looking forward to the next few days... Till next time

-Nicole

Thanks

I just want to say thank you to all the people who came to South Cobb today, to support the band. We practiced a little today it was pretty good, it rained but rain has never stopped this band before we pushed through it. Then we performed for all the people and television stations that came to the school. It went very well I'm so excitied!

The Principal's Perspective

As you can tell from the posts, several days ago we asked the drum majors to start blogging.  It was a small effort on our part to share the details of our journey with so many of our new friends and supports from across the country.

As their principal, I read each post with curiosity...hoping to see how dreams become reality through the eyes of a child.  As the band director and I talked, we decided that we too would share our perspectives as this rollercoaster continues from our small Austell community to the streets of Pennsylvania Avenue. 

To that end, I offer to you an email that was sent by me to the South Cobb High School staff today.  Welcome to our new world...

It is my hope that one day I will have an opportunity to share the many stories that have emerged as a result of 95 kids, one band director, and a shared dream. Until then, simply consider the following one small example of how our kids have inspired so many in our community.

This past Friday, a teacher from Wilson Creek Elementary School emailed me to share that her Fulton County school had conducted a "Crazy Hat Day" to support our band's journey to Pennsylvania Avenue. Later that afternoon, two teachers made the one-hour drive to our campus to present Zac and me with a bag of money and a large sign. As she handed over $500, she unfolded a large sign that was filled with the scribbled signatures of hundreds of our newest friends and donors.

However, it was not the money or the sign that was memorable about this story. Rather, it was our new second grade friend.

You see...this teacher told me a story of how early that Friday morning she invited each student in her class to take out their hat and a $1 donation to South Cobb, which in essence "earned" them the right to wear the hat for the school day. This teacher noticed there was one girl who had no hat or money on her desk. When the teacher asked why, the student responded she had no money or no hat to participate in the school-wide activity.

Without hesitation, the boy seated next to her pulled out two dollars from his pocket. He then leaned over and placed his extra dollar on her desk...and began to fold a hat from a piece of paper that too would be passed over to his classmate. A random act of kindness and character...priceless.

It is possible we will never know all the lives our story will touch. However, I believe our kids and our school will continue to inspire those from all around our great state and country. For your part in making this possible, on behalf of our new second grade friend...thank you.

By the way, in case you want to put a face with this message of hope and character...say hi to our new friend who was so proud of her paper hat :-)

Grant Rivera, Proud Principal of South Cobb HS      

 

    The whirlwind continues.  It's been exactly one week since the announcement of acceptance into the 56th Innaugural Parade.  Friday the band took another trip back to Q100 radio station for the Bert Show to announce our new grand total.  Dr. Rivera proudly announced that we exceeded our goal with 101,000.  This is absolutely incredible.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to anyone who helped make this dream a reality for all of us at South Cobb.  I know that great opportunities happen to those who work hard, but this one in particular could not have been made possible if it weren't for those that took charge and decided to actively help us.  Thank you to all of the schools who took up donations and wrote letters of encouragement, thank you to every business man or woman who went to their boss and asked for help for this program, and thank you for believing is us and our program. 

    It is so surreal to be a part of something such as this!  I feel like all I can do is say thank you.  I am so proud to be the Drum Major of this band.  Mr. Cogdill, our band director, is such a great person.  He has been working non stop for the past week, but he always has the biggest smile on his face! 

    Last night the band got together to write thank you letters to every single person a contributed anything to our band.  It was such a great feeling to be able to get together as a band once again, and give thanks back to those who gave so graciously to us. 

Dana Sherer

Hey just wanted to get a few thoughts down before heading to school. This week has been a complete whirlwind of emotions as we continue our journey to Washington D.C. The day after we got the announcement that we were accepted, there was an instant frenzy of media wanting to talk to us! Then on Tuesday the Bert Show picked up this story and expressed interest in helping!Ever since the Bert Show picked our story up, the community and come together to provide us with the needed funds to get every kid up to Washington. Thank you to every single person who donated anything from a dollar to a bottle of water. We are so grateful! Yesterday there was a faculty meeting in which the band performed and shared our story with the teachers. At this time, a representative of Lockheed Martin presented us with a check for 20,000! This put us to our goal! Right now we stand as 75,000. All in five days. This is absolutely incredible and thank you for being a part of it!
Dana Sherer
Drum Major
Blue Eagle Marching Band