FRANKLIN, Ind. -- The beat goes on and on at Franklin Community High School. Their Indoor Percussion team as well as concert band students will be taking part in a 24-hour drum-a-thon with the goal of raising funds to help students pay fees and to help create new opportunities in music education.
RTV6 spoke with Franklin Community High School's Percussion Director Jason Hammond-Wood who is organizing the drum-a-thon with his student musicians. Hammond-Wood formally worked at Center Grove High School with their band, which is known to have a strong booster support system.
"I'm trying to give these kids the same opportunities and experiences as well as raise awareness about what we are doing here to get the Franklin community excited about music," said Hammon-Wood.
The 24-hour drum-a-thon will kick off on Friday, January 26th and continue into Saturday, January 27th at Franklin Community High School. Students who play percussion competitively in their Indoor Percussion group will participate for the full 24 hours and students in concert band class will take part in various aspects of the day.
And it won't just be a day of working on their chops and practicing upcoming pieces, Hammond-Wood tells me he is planning activities and concerts throughout the day. He even plans to have a solo and ensemble portion judged by more professional players. This will allow the students to get outside feedback for their work. He is also planning some fun portions of the day with bucket drumming and opportunities for team building.
Many of the students have worked for the past month raising money for this event and the donations will go directly towards helping them pay their fees and hopefully afford them some new opportunities and instruction in music.
The Franklin Community Indoor Percussion group is preparing for upcoming competitions against other schools across the state. Their routine this season is called "Dichotomy" and focuses solely on the different sounds of wood versus metal. The floor will be divided into two parts. They will play on wood on one side, metal on the other, and create interesting music and choreography by mixing the two parts. The music was written by Josh Torres of Center Grove Community Schools and Franklin College.
Hammond-Wood wants to extend an invite to the community to come check out what the kids are up to at Franklin Community. You can donate to their drum-a-thon and learn more about their program by visiting their website http://www.franklinbands.info/drumathon
