Middle School Bands Recruiting Fifth-Grade Students

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

As high school senior band students graduate, a new group of musicians must be recruited to replace them.

The domino effect trickles down to the fifth grade at elementary schools everywhere. Middle school band directors are visiting their feeder elementary schools to find students from the Class of 2026 interested in band.

Resaca Middle School band director Abelardo Gomez brought his sixth-grade beginner band this week to Resaca’s three elementary feeder schools – Olmito Elementary, Rancho Verde Elementary and Villareal Elementary. The purpose – showing fifth-grade students about music at the middle school level.

At Rancho Verde Elementary Wednesday, 118 fifth-grade students sat on the floor of the school cafeteria and learned from Gomez about the middle school band experience.

Looking toward his 50 sixth-grade band students, Gomez asked them “how many of you were in fifth grade last year here at Rancho Verde?” About 20 hands went up.

Garcia explained to the RVE students the different types of instruments in the band – woodwinds, brass and percussion. There are several instruments in each section.

“The bigger the instrument, the lower pitch that instrument will make,” Garcia told the students. “That’s why flutes make high sounds and tuba make low sounds.”

This week’s visit was meant to expose the fifth-graders to band, in hopes that many of them will talk to their parents about joining band at Resaca.

“We’ll be back in April to talk to those interested in band, and ask them to list their top choices of instruments,” Gomez said. “We’ll try them out on the instruments they would like and evaluate them then.”

It’s a process repeated at elementary schools everywhere. And for most students, middle school band marks the start of their musical career.