COLUMBUS, Ind. — Twice every school day, weather permitting, Northside Middle School band director B.J. Marks leaves his classroom and leads his students, their instruments in tow, outside.
The group crosses 27th Street, marching through the gates to Columbus North High School and stops under the evergreen trees just behind the football field. They then settle into plastic chairs, carefully spaced 6 feet apart, and begin to practice.
Of his three band classes, Marks said only one is small enough to properly social distance in the band room. The other two are too large to do so, leading Marks to ask North for permission to hold class under the trees behind the football field.
While there is a 6-feet distance between band members inside, sometimes his outdoor classes have musicians ending up being about 75 feet apart, which puts the ensemble to the test.
“Because there are no walls, it is challenging for one side of the group to hear the other side, and we’re learning to listen to that,” he said. “It’s even challenging for me. I’ve never had a band this far apart outdoors, a concert band. So we’re also trying not to play at ridiculously out-of-character dynamic levels. We still want them to sound like the concert band. … It’s really forcing them to become excellent listeners. They have to be more attuned to the sound they want to hear from their neighborhood and their neighbor.”
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
