Meadow Bridge Middle and High Schools: The Bands Without a Room

MEADOW BRIDGE, WV (WVNS) — A single room with no sound proofing, echoing ceilings, and a shared wall with the school gymnasium. That’s what the Meadow Bridge Middle and High School bands have been dealing with.

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Students of every grade are struggling to adapt. Alexiana Brunty is a freshman with the Meadow Bridge High School band.

“It’s really challenging cause, you know, [other people] have gym during this period. You know as a first-year player it’s really hard for me to focus,” said Brunty.

That is not to mention the minimal storage space and cramped conditions in their current room. Alec Thomas, a junior and drum major for the high school band, said there’s no room to do anything.

“It’s an organizational nightmare,” said Thomas. “To move around everyone and all the stuff around. It’s just not fun.”

The small space means the band classes are split up. This means the full band cannot practice together as a whole.

“We’ve never been able to have the whole band together to practice. We’ve had one practice, and that was in the lobby that you walked into. So, that was a challenge because I could not fit, certainly couldn’t fit fifty-three sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in this room,” said Dr. Travis Riddle, band director for both bands.

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Riddle said he is proud of both bands for overcoming the difficulties they have been facing.

Despite being displaced by the construction, both the middle and high school bands succeeded in being rated ones in the Region 7 Band Festival – that is the highest rating possible for school bands in the state.

Meadow Bridge Regional School is currently under construction and the bands should be getting their own space in March of 2025.

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