Lakota West High School Instrumental Music Program

 

Lakota West High School opened in the fall of ‘97 and is one of two high schools, grades 10 through 12, in the Lakota Local School District. Located twenty miles north of Cincinnati in West Chester, Lakota is the 7th largest school system in the state with a student population of more than 17,000. The enrollment at Lakota West is approximately 2,000.

At Lakota West, we pride ourselves on offering a wide range of quality instrumental experiences, with the concert program at the core. It is the belief of the entire music faculty that a well-rounded education, including challenging musical experiences, encourages a lifelong love of music, as well as responsibility and growth in character that continues into other aspects of the students’ lives.

Elementary. In the Lakota School District, band instruction begins in sixth grade at each of eleven elementary schools, meeting twice per week in heterogeneous groupings. For the past several years, approximately 800 students per year have joined the instrumental music program.

Junior High. At each junior high school -- Hopewell, Lakota Ridge, Liberty and Plains -- two directors team-teach two or three seventh and two eighth grade bands. A seventh and an eighth-grade jazz band are each offered for one semester. All groups meet five days per week.

Freshman School. Due to increasing growth, the Lakota Local School District opened two new high schools in 1997 -- Lakota West and Lakota East -- and transformed the original high school into a Freshman School. Four freshman concert bands, which are divided by attendance zones for West and East High Schools, meet daily at Lakota Freshman School. Three freshman jazz ensembles also meet daily during school.

High School. At Lakota West, Symphonic Winds (Class AA), Symphonic White Band (Class A), Symphonic Red Band (Class A) and Concert Band (Class B) meet daily the entire school year. Jazz Ensemble and two Jazz Bands also are offered daily for the full school year. The Marching Firebirds (consisting of 300 members) is a grades 10-12 co-curricular class, which is voluntary and meets three days per week after school. Pep Band and Pit Orchestra are offered seasonally after school.

A Tradition of Excellence. Symphonic Winds has received straight superiors in OMEA class AA since the first year of Lakota West.  The Symphonic Bands and Concert Band have also earned superior ratings at OMEA district and state adjudicated events. In 2006, Lakota West became the first school in OMEA history to have four bands earn superior ratings at OMEA state contest.

Major Symphonic Winds performances have included:

 

• December 2006 - Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago (one of six high school bands chosen to perform)

• December 2004 - Symphonic Winds chamber groups performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. The full Symphonic Winds also served as a rehearsal clinic band

• 2004 - European Tour with performances in Paris, Brussels, and London

• 2004 - Ohio Music Education association (OMEA) convention

• 2002 - Capital University New Concert Band Music Reading Clinic

• 2001 - 30th Annual Ohio Band Directors Conference at the University of Akron

• 2000 - Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago (one of just five bands in the nation chosen and the first ever from the Cincinnati area)

• 1999 - Music in the Parks Festival in Chicago

• 1998 - Dixie Classic Music Festival in Atlanta

• 1998 - Bowling Green State University New Music Reading Clinic

  
  

The Lakota West Marching Firebirds have earned over 25 Grand Champion awards since the formation of the school. The Marching Firebirds have earned a superior in class AA at state finals each year, as well as a superior rating at every OMEA marching band competition entered. The band marched in the 1999 Hollywood Christmas Parade and at the 2003 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. In November, 2005, the band traveled to Hawaii to perform at Pearl Harbor and in the Waikiki Holiday Parade. In January, 2008, the band will become the first Greater Cincinnati Area band to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

 

The Jazz Ensemble received a superior rating at the inaugural OMEA state jazz contest in 2003. It was also one of just ten high school groups in the nation invited to perform at the 2003 North Texas Jazz Festival. The group also performed at the 2005 Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) convention.

Student Growth and Achievement. We encourage private study and participation in honors groups. In 2006-2007, 22 Lakota West instrumentalists placed in All-State honor groups (band, jazz band, and orchestra).   More than 95 percent of our students participate in solo and ensemble contest. Many Lakota West students participate in the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra; Southwest Ohio Regional Orchestra; Greater Miami Youth Orchestra; Ohio University Honor Band; Bowling Green State University New Music Reading Clinic; Tri-State Honor Band; and Ohio State Honor Band.

Our band program is supported in part by a very active parent booster group, The Upbeat Club, and by the Lakota Board of Education.