Following the devastating April 21 fire at Highland High School, the local community rallied hard to ensure the school’s band and orchestra students had instruments to use for upcoming performances.
Fundraisers were launched and instrument donations poured in from as far away as North Carolina and Arkansas. The combined efforts of many helped to ensure Highland’s music-loving students could participate in activities they otherwise would have missed following the blaze.
But as the summer passed and the new school year began last month, one aspect of the upcoming year for Highland’s marching band students remained a mystery — what would they wear during performances this year considering all of their uniforms were lost in the fire?
“Our plan C was to order T-shirts and sweats for the students to wear,” said Highland High School band director Andrew Wilson.
Highland never even had to consider plan C, however, thanks to what American Falls School District Superintendent Randy Jensen described as a “tale interwoven with unity, compassion and a touch of serendipity.”
“A devastating fire last April ravaged Highland High School, claiming, among other things, the school’s cherished marching band uniforms,” Jensen said. “The despair of potentially missing upcoming performances loomed large. However, a beacon of hope emerged in the form of American Falls High School.”
The story involves three high schools that all share the primary colors of red, black and white — Northview High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, American Falls High School and Highland High School.
Before this year, the American Falls High School marching band had never donned official uniforms during competitions, games or parades.
Jensen said the district began looking for options to obtain some uniforms when Brian Leisher, who is the co-director of the American Falls band program alongside fellow co-director Robbie Hanchey, used his network to identify an opportunity to purchase some lightly used uniforms from Northview High.
Northview High then offered to sell 150 uniforms to American Falls for the deep discounted price of just under $4,000. Keep in mind, Highland has about 70 marching band students and American Falls boasts about 50.
“We’re proud to have grown our program enough to where we were going and purchasing new uniforms and we were excited to know that we would be getting many new-to-us uniforms from Northview High,” Hanchey said. “Little did we know that after we initiated the process of obtaining these uniforms that Highland would be impacted by the fire.”
It wasn’t until about two months after the blaze, however, that the mystery surrounding what Highland marching band students would wear this school year began to find a resolution. Hanchey and Wilson ran into one another at the Idaho Bandmasters Association conference in Twin Falls in June.
Hanchey said, “I ran into (Wilson) at (the College of Southern Idaho) in Twin Falls and we told him, ‘Hey, we have more than enough extra uniforms (and) we would love to outfit you guys if possible and do whatever we can to help.’”
Jensen added, “Understanding the depth of Highland High School’s plight, Robbie Hanchey and Brian Leisher put forward the noble idea of loaning their newly acquired uniforms. The numbers made sense: Highland band is comprised of 70 members, while the American Falls band has 50. This gesture was met with unanimous support from the school community.”
American Falls received the 150 uniforms from Northview the first week of September and on Sept. 14, Wilson and all 70 of his pupils traveled to American Falls to obtain their borrowed uniforms.
“Here, they not only underwent fitting sessions for the uniforms but also had the unique opportunity to connect with the American Falls band members,” Jensen said. “This simple yet profound act of trying on uniforms transformed into an exchange of stories, aspirations and a shared love for music.”
Jensen added, “It’s full circle generosity. A big school in Michigan does us a favor in selling us uniforms at a really discounted rate. And then we’re able to help a large school next to us and so it’s basically just this sort of pay it forward mentality and that’s just awesome.”
Wilson said he “got pretty emotional” after seeing his students in their new, albeit temporary, uniforms.
“For them to share these uniforms with us makes such a big difference,” Wilson said. “These students are rehearsing every day but there’s something different about getting into uniform and the unification that that brings. They get their game face on when they’re in uniform and so being able to see them all together in uniform was really special.”
Hanchey said he and the American Falls marching band students “were super thrilled to be able to help out some fellow musicians.
“They were all smiles during the fitting sessions,” he said. “You could just see the gleam in their eyes knowing that their Friday Night Lights experience, especially for the seniors, was going to be as close to normal as possible.”
Some might ask themselves, why didn’t Highland High School just order new uniforms? According to both Hanchey and Wilson, special marching band uniforms can oftentimes take over a year to arrive, so even if an order was placed the day after the fire, the likelihood any of the current Highland marching band students would be able to enjoy them remained slim.
That’s what makes this situation so special, Hanchey said.
“This goes to show the spirit of music education and highlights the camaraderie among the music education and marching band programs,” Hanchey said. “As much as we love to perform there is also a really deep level of respect across ensembles and so to be able to help out has left us feeling pretty pumped.”
Wilson said he and other Highland administrators are still working to finalize an order for new marching band uniforms. Hanchey added there was no need to rush and that if necessary, Highland could borrow the uniforms again next season if new digs for the Rams have not yet arrived.
Wilson said he knows for sure that insurance money will cover the cost of replacement uniforms, adding that for now, he just wants the local community to know how grateful he is.
“So many people have reached out to help us and this is just another big, big way to get some assistance,” he said. “We are so appreciative of American Falls that they would be willing to help us out and I think our kids are so excited to see how awesome and different they are than what they had before.”
Fighting back a chuckle, Hanchey added, “It’s going to be just a little funny for some people this fall to see a double take and ask themselves, ‘Wait, didn’t that band already perform?’”