Russell fields first Brownsville ISD elementary school drum line
May 14—Starting with nothing more than paint buckets and drumsticks, the drum line at Russell Elementary School is completing its second year, full of enthusiasm but facing the departure of 10 members to middle school.
The Russell drum line is the first at an elementary school in the Brownsville Independent School District, although several other schools have taken the cue this year and started one of their own, Russell music director Victor Rangel said.
The group had a year-end concert on Monday along with the Russell choir, accompanied by recorders and xylophones.
Speaking with The Brownsville Herald last week in their practice room, drum line members said the best part about being in the group is the camaraderie and teamwork involved in performing as a group.
"We all have fun. We meet a lot of friends. It's very fun and it's a great way to communicate with others," Chelsea Avalos, one of the departing members said.
Others in the group said meeting up after school for drum line helps put the bad parts of a day behind them if things don't go well, or to relive the good parts if they do.
"I mean these are wonderful kids. ... I see some of these kids more than my own family," Rangel said.
Rangel said he had always wanted to have a drum line and began laying the foundations with a small group of kids year before last.
"I had an idea three years ago. It started with bucket drums. Two years ago, I had a small group. We had just drum sticks and buckets. I tried myself doing this and I figured I could do an actual drum line," he said.
Rangel said he bought the bass, tenor and snare drums for the students himself and started putting everything together last year.
"It was something I had always wanted to do. I always thought the drum line was like cool. Nobody else did it and I thought they could do it. Maybe some people thought they couldn't, but I thought they could," he said.
The uniforms were re-purposed from Oliveira Middle School, which has the same colors. All that was needed was a specially embroidered Russell patch. The group added hats repurposed from a high school drum line.
The Russell drum line has performed in Charro Days parades and the Charro Days Christmas Parade, as well as the Brownsville Veterans Day Parade on Southmost Boulevard.
The group performed twice at Sunrise Mall and at the Holiday Village during Christmas. It regularly gets invited to perform at BISD and other events.
"I want them to get used to reading music," Rangel said, illustrating on a white board.
"I've always thought music is like any other subject. For English, you learn to read, write, and speak. For music, this is the reading portion. With drums, you learn to read it and play it. The snares play something different from the tenors. They hardly ever play the same things at once, and putting it all together is challenging," he said.
The drum line has 15 members including two alternates. There are five bass drums, three tenors and seven snares.
Bass drummers are fifth-graders Max Quezada, Edwin Munivez and Carlos Juarez, and fourth-graders Ricardo Benavides and Marco Ortega.
Tenor drummers are fifth-graders Gael Cruz, Jessie Simental and Bella Lino.
The snares are fifth-graders Chelsea Avalos, Mateo Patricio, Dylan Franco, Angel Alonzo, fourth-graders Jesse Ortega, Eduardo Castillo, and Joel Avila.
