Atlantic High School hosted this year’s Southwest Iowa Band Association (SWIBA) Honor Band on Jan. 19. Starting around 8:30 that morning, many schools from around the area, including Harlen, Glenwood, Clarinda, among others, traveled to AHS to practice their pieces with their directors and then perform at 7 later that evening.

The event was split into two bands, Freshman/Sophomore Band under the direction of SWIBA President Alex Albertson, and the Junior/Senior Band under the direction of Vestavia Hills’ (Alabama) band director Dr. Jerell Horton. Both bands included some of AHS band students. Gracelynn Kelley, Hudson Brock, Katrina Keasey, and Gabrielle Engler we accepted into the Freshmen/Sophomore band; and Grace Mitchell, Shauna Anderson, Micheal Hocamp, and Katrina Williams were accepted into the Junior/Senior band.

AHS has hosted the Honor Band since 2014, because AHS band director Jarrod O’Donnell is the chair of the Honor Band, “It’s easier to stay in the same place from year to year,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell noted that numerous of the other schools’ directors said that the “9-10 band was mature for their ages.”

Senior Grace Mitchell has been in the SWIBA Honor Band for the past 6 years. In her opinion, Mitchell said that the concert went “very well—the energy was high,” and the audience “enjoyed” the chosen scores.