Glasgow Band Shares Journey to Assessment
The majority of the Glasgow Wind Ensemble is 8th graders that have missed their Assessment experiences due to Covid-19 in their 6th and 7th grade years. They were excited to finally be able to experience this event and represent the Glasgow music department. That’s why the cancellation of this much anticipated event hit so hard for students and band teachers. Bailey Farkas, an 8th grader in the Glasgow Wind Ensemble shared, “I feel sad that Assessment got canceled because we worked for months on getting ready and we prepared so much for Assessment. I know that I and many other Wind Ensemble students aren’t as excited for Assessment now and are more excited to get past it and play fun music for the spring concert.”
Mr. Sharrock, one of the band teachers at Glasgow MS, shared that the cancellation was heartbreaking, and that it brought back the memories of 2020 when the quarantine canceled Assessment merely days before the performance. The extra two week wait was challenging for Mr. Sharrock and students because “It is hard for students after such intense preparation for the past Assessment date because I realized that it was hard for me to keep my focus up and I could feel it was hard for the band too.” However, “We went to assessment and performed super well, and I think that speaks to the level of focus, care, and dedication that the students have.”
The Glasgow Wind Ensemble finally got their Assessment debut on March 28th at West Springfield High School and, “For the year that we had, I thought it was the best we could have played,” says Mr. Sharrock. The hard work and journey that these students took paid off well, setting up musical growth for all of these musicians in future years.
Brooke Ehmann - Jones (she/her), an 8th grader at Glasgow MS has been a writer for the Panther Post since the 2020 school year. She has lived in Northern Virginia all of her life and plays on a soccer team, loves playing music on her saxophone and the piano, enjoys reading, writing, cooking, and painting, and loves spending time outdoors on the many hikes she and her family have been on. Brooke is also very passionate about the environment and enjoys learning about nature, and volunteering to protect it. She has two cats at home, and loves traveling to national parks with her family.
