An Overview of the West Carteret High School Band Program

The West Carteret High School band program is comprehensive in scope, involving approximately 220 band students. Students have the following opportunities to perform: marching band, concert bands, jazz band, smaller classical chamber groups, district, regional, and state honor bands, concert percussion ensemble, marching percussion theater, winter colorguard, dance theater, and the school's pit orchestra. Honors Band is offered for the very advanced band students who excel at performing and perform in public recitals. A double reed class is offered for those students who do not participate in marching band. All performing groups are "superior" in nature and have won regional, state, and national honors for outstanding performances.

The Marching Patriots have long been innovators in marching band activity and have enjoyed a reputation as leaders in their approach to aggressive but entertaining field show productions. The marching band grew dramatically in numbers during the leadership and tenure of Mat Bottoms, who was the band director for over fifteen years. The present band director, Craig Everett, has been with the band since January, 1995. The Marching Patriots have continued to excel, winning several championships at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, James Madison University, the WGI Friendship Cup in Florida. In 2001 the band started competing in the Bands of America regional and nationals for the first time.

West Carteret High School has also enjoyed much success in the concert and symphonic band areas. Since Mr. Everett's arrival all concert groups have earned consecutive and consistent Superior ratings at the state concert band festivals, with the Symphonic Band performing Grade VI repertoire for the past seven years. Developing a band program than is well balanced and one that is superior in all areas has been the main goal of director Craig Everett.

Jazz Band is very popular at West Carteret and the annual Jazz Band Dinner Show is one of the highlights of the school year. This group, directed by Andy Wright, performs concerts and appears at community events throughout the year. The classical chamber music groups are also important to the overall band program. Various woodwind, brass, and double reed choirs perform often in area churches and for local civic clubs. A very active percussion ensemble performs and competes frequently. Students also study classical solo literature and a public recital is performed each May. West Carteret places more students in All-District Band than any other school in our District. Last year 34 students won All-District honors and eight were selected to the All-State Honors Band. A music theory course is taught each year and an average of three to five band students graduate and go on to major in music each year.

Colorguard students enjoy year round instruction and perform with the marching band each fall. During spring semester, the group often competes in the Atlantic Indoor Association and Winter Guard International colorguard circuits and performs a Dance Revue each year. Professional choreographers are hired frequently to teach the students in all styles of dance, including modern, contemporary, classical, and improv.

The success of the band in due, in part, to the support the band receives financially from the Carteret County School System, and the tremendous support by the band booster organization. The band boosters continue to raise large sums of money each year to hire numerous instructors to give more individualized attention to each band member. The band director feels that this is the key for success, especially since the school is located on the coast of North Carolina where private instruction is not always available. Over 100 band boosters participate in supporting the total band program. The yearly marching band production involves hundreds of hours of volunteer work by this dedicated group. All costumes and flags are sewn from scratch each year and the men are equally involved in building props and customizing the needed equipment. The school system provides adequate funding for the top quality band instruments required for any successful band program. The band director is hired twelve months by the school system, and an assistant director position was added in 2000 with the hiring of Andrew Wright. The colorguard teaching position was expanded by adding Donald Johnson as a full-time student activities director for the 2001 school year.

The success of the West Carteret High School band program over the past decade has been unparalleled. Everyone associated with the band takes great pride in representing Carteret County in the best way possible. Being a good ambassador for the county is a privilege that band members do not take for granted.