Weights clank to the floor in tune with grunts and smack talk on a balmy Wednesday evening.
The summer heat creeps into the orange-and-blue weight room and the sticky aroma of sweat begins to fill the air.
Motivational posters line the wall of the Cape Coral High School facility. Varsity football players bond, ribbing and encouraging each other to push harder, lift more.
These players have been in the weight room since mid-June, working on getting ready for the first game, a home game Aug. 26 against Palmetto Ridge. Freshmen and junior varsity players have the morning shift while varsity work in the evening.
"We're bonding together as a team, working hard together," said Kyle Young, a senior center whose been on the varsity team for three years.
Young said they alternate days between upper body and lower body and generally work for an hour and a half each day.
Trey Daniels, a junior cornerback and linebacker, hopes the team will go far this season.
"(We're) trying to go to states and go undefeated, 10 and 0," Daniels said.
Coach Brad Metheny said he gave the team a break after school ended but now they're working hard in the weight room.
"(We) try to build that team camaraderie and gain strength to carry over to the performance on the field on game day," Metheny said.
Young and Daniels will be key players for the Seahawks this year, Metheny said.
Across the school in the band room on an early Tuesday morning, the competition marching band members trickle in.
Thirty-four students geared up for the second day of band camp with water bottles and sheet music. A light smell of sunscreen permeated the room. The band is working on its opening number.
Most of these teens are entering their second week of band camp. Cape Coral High is having two marching bands this year, a competition and a show band.
Stacey Green, Cape High's second-year band director, said the different bands are new this year and the competition band requires a lot more dedication. The members practice long hours to perfect their halftime show.
Ben Wiener, a sophomore tuba player, likes the new system.
"This year, we're doing a lot of things different and it seems to be working," Wiener said.
With two weeks of band camp on top of a short summer, Napoleon Galang, a sophomore alto sax player, said band camp has been hard but at the same time fun because you can see all your friends again.
The competition band practices from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during band camp, while the week prior the show band stopped at 5 p.m.
Green said the competition band's show this year is on the chaos theory and the butterfly effect. Band members will mimic molecules pulling back and forth through formations on the football field.
She said this band will travel to competitions throughout the state, and its halftime show will be used for away games. The show band's tribute to Bill Chase, a jazz musician, will play to the home crowds.
Island Coast High School's 16-member band was also working on its halftime show on a recent Tuesday.
Patrick Gray, a senior tuba player, joked that they were the smallest band in Florida. He said he likes marching band because he likes to work with others to accomplish something.
"The smaller the band the harder we have to work," Gray said.
The Gator band's show will have a Latin feel. During the school year, the band practices three times a week in the afternoons.
Band director Kenneth Trapp said it's hard to have a full sound with a small band, but the group has done well in competitions. This is Island Coast's third year with a marching band.
"If you're tiny like that you can't do the same show that a big band does," Trapp said.
Showing posts with label Great Clip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Clip. Show all posts
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Monday, September 13, 2010
Wesley Coffee house- CLASS ASSIGNMENT
This article is an unpublished story that I wrote for my professor Dr. Bruce Garrison for his feature writing class in the fall of my junior year. The assignment was to write a "Color Story".
Teal walls and a hodgepodge of floor lamps backlit the dim make-shift stage. Four songwriters sat in a line with guitars, banjos and a piano with a large wooden cross in the back corner of the room.
Free coffee, tea and cookies lined the small tables on the perimeter of the room. The open door let in the evening breeze. People sat at gospel music sheet covered tables and mismatched chairs. The show was about to begin.
On Thursdays, the on-campus Wesley Methodist Center hosts a music night called the Wesley Coffee House. The campus ministry has featured students from the Frost School of Music. The event is free and there are also free refreshments. This coffee house night featured four student singer-songwriters, Natalie York, CJ Tywoniak, Ben Goldsmith and Tori Tullier. The students performed in a Nashville Round, meaning they all sang back up for each other’s original songs.
“This was my first time at the songwriter’s night,” said junior Sarah Thomas. “I liked it a lot. The great original songs reminded me of all the little bars and coffee shops back home in Nashville.”
Senior Frost School of Music student Tori Tullier looked ethereal in a white empire waist top and sang to a packed house “Waiting on a road that’s never met a footprint/and I’ll be there if you want a ride.”
“It was my first time performing at the Wesley Coffee House,” said Tullier. “I really enjoyed it because it was a smaller venue so it was more personal. I felt calm because I knew a lot of friends were in the audience.”
Friends caught up between songs and squished onto the circle of couches that was the impromptu front row. These were regulars and they know how to get the most out of the night.
“I always went last year,” said sophomore Dan Barnett. “I enjoy the music and atmosphere. It’s a good chance to play and meet other musicians.”
The music continued and the songwriters created a rapport with the crowd.
“Those homeless people really liked it so hope you guys do too,” joked senior Natalie York.
She was referring to a story about performing her “I Love You” song outside to no one but the local Miami homeless population.
The songs were received with great attention by the audience. The standing room only crowd was silent during the folksy renditions of the student’s original songs. Ben Goldsmith broke into a rendition of Tom Petty’s Free Falling, prompting the entire crowd to sing along, and Natalie York elicited laughs for her Flight of the Conchords inspired Sugar Lumps piece.
“I like the vibe, it’s down to earth,” said senior Maggie Debarberie. “You can talk or just listen, you can eat, do homework. You can come and go as you please.”
The music started at eight but people trickled in throughout the night. Some wore sweatpants and a University of Miami shirt while others were dressed up for a night on the town. Some people came with friends while others were by themselves leaning on the wall by the door absorbing the night. More students and locals came later on to watch the open mic portion of the Wesley coffee house.
“It’s great because it warms you up with their music,” said senior Amanda Miesnieks. “It [the coffee house] really encourages having people play your own music.”
The nervous students leave their guitar cases in the corners of the room and sign up on a single piece of notebook paper that’s tearing at the spiral edges.
After about an hour, the Nashville Round performance came to a conclusion and there was a short break. During the break everyone got up and some grabbed a M&M cookie while they socialized with the friends that were sitting on the other side of the room. The open mic performers started to get mentally prepared for their upcoming performance, nervously laughing with their friends. Some were regulars to the open mic while for others it was their first time.
“Here you get a chance to sit down lay back and soak in the talent of the Frost Music School,” said Barnett.
The coffee house was a great night for both the audience and the performers. The relaxing atmosphere was a great change to a usually hectic Thursday night.
“I would love to perform again,” said Tullier. “I'm so happy I was able to be a part of it. Miami isn't really known for being a songwriting town the way Nashville or Athens is, so it's nice to showcase the talent that we have in the school in a relaxed environment.”
Teal walls and a hodgepodge of floor lamps backlit the dim make-shift stage. Four songwriters sat in a line with guitars, banjos and a piano with a large wooden cross in the back corner of the room.
Free coffee, tea and cookies lined the small tables on the perimeter of the room. The open door let in the evening breeze. People sat at gospel music sheet covered tables and mismatched chairs. The show was about to begin.
On Thursdays, the on-campus Wesley Methodist Center hosts a music night called the Wesley Coffee House. The campus ministry has featured students from the Frost School of Music. The event is free and there are also free refreshments. This coffee house night featured four student singer-songwriters, Natalie York, CJ Tywoniak, Ben Goldsmith and Tori Tullier. The students performed in a Nashville Round, meaning they all sang back up for each other’s original songs.
“This was my first time at the songwriter’s night,” said junior Sarah Thomas. “I liked it a lot. The great original songs reminded me of all the little bars and coffee shops back home in Nashville.”
Senior Frost School of Music student Tori Tullier looked ethereal in a white empire waist top and sang to a packed house “Waiting on a road that’s never met a footprint/and I’ll be there if you want a ride.”
“It was my first time performing at the Wesley Coffee House,” said Tullier. “I really enjoyed it because it was a smaller venue so it was more personal. I felt calm because I knew a lot of friends were in the audience.”
Friends caught up between songs and squished onto the circle of couches that was the impromptu front row. These were regulars and they know how to get the most out of the night.
“I always went last year,” said sophomore Dan Barnett. “I enjoy the music and atmosphere. It’s a good chance to play and meet other musicians.”
The music continued and the songwriters created a rapport with the crowd.
“Those homeless people really liked it so hope you guys do too,” joked senior Natalie York.
She was referring to a story about performing her “I Love You” song outside to no one but the local Miami homeless population.
The songs were received with great attention by the audience. The standing room only crowd was silent during the folksy renditions of the student’s original songs. Ben Goldsmith broke into a rendition of Tom Petty’s Free Falling, prompting the entire crowd to sing along, and Natalie York elicited laughs for her Flight of the Conchords inspired Sugar Lumps piece.
“I like the vibe, it’s down to earth,” said senior Maggie Debarberie. “You can talk or just listen, you can eat, do homework. You can come and go as you please.”
The music started at eight but people trickled in throughout the night. Some wore sweatpants and a University of Miami shirt while others were dressed up for a night on the town. Some people came with friends while others were by themselves leaning on the wall by the door absorbing the night. More students and locals came later on to watch the open mic portion of the Wesley coffee house.
“It’s great because it warms you up with their music,” said senior Amanda Miesnieks. “It [the coffee house] really encourages having people play your own music.”
The nervous students leave their guitar cases in the corners of the room and sign up on a single piece of notebook paper that’s tearing at the spiral edges.
After about an hour, the Nashville Round performance came to a conclusion and there was a short break. During the break everyone got up and some grabbed a M&M cookie while they socialized with the friends that were sitting on the other side of the room. The open mic performers started to get mentally prepared for their upcoming performance, nervously laughing with their friends. Some were regulars to the open mic while for others it was their first time.
“Here you get a chance to sit down lay back and soak in the talent of the Frost Music School,” said Barnett.
The coffee house was a great night for both the audience and the performers. The relaxing atmosphere was a great change to a usually hectic Thursday night.
“I would love to perform again,” said Tullier. “I'm so happy I was able to be a part of it. Miami isn't really known for being a songwriting town the way Nashville or Athens is, so it's nice to showcase the talent that we have in the school in a relaxed environment.”
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