Join the Oshkosh West Bands!
Be a part of the Bands at Oshkosh West High School!
To be a member of the West Bands, you will need to start your band instrument in middle school or take private lessons outside of the school day. The Oshkosh Area School District starts band in sixth grade. Please contact the band director at your middle school to get started in band.
Oshkosh West High School feeder schools
Carl Traeger Middle School Band - Karen Kriege - email
Perry Tipler Middle School Band - Kevin Nutini - email
South Park Middle School Band - Kaylee Sparks - email
What instrument should you play?
Here are some helpful videos.
What famous people were in their school band?
Click HERE to find out.
Why should I join Band??
...Imagine going to a new school and not knowing anything about where to go or who to talk to. The transition from middle school to high school is easier for band students because they will have over 250 friends to help through this process. Incoming band freshmen have immediate contact with upperclassmen in a big brother/big sister kind of way. High school band is very healthy for students in a multitude of ways. Let's look at a few!
Did You Know? A new study in the journal Social Science Quarterly reveals that music participation, defined as music lessons taken in or out of school and parents attending concerts with their children, has a positive effect on reading and mathematics achievement in early childhood and adolescence. Read the Impact of Music on Childhood and Adolescent Achievement; this study examines the association between music involvement and academic achievement in both childhood and adolescence using three measures of music participation: in school, outside of school, and parental involvement in the form of concert attendance.
There is a ton of educational research about the power of music to help children learn. Read more here.
We know that high school band students represent the top of the academic scale in our schools. We know that band students are averaging 62 points higher on SAT tests, which would indicate that they are stronger in verbal and math scores than other members of the student body. We also know band students are students who enjoy a successful high school career, go on to college and become the leaders in our society. There is a definite link between the top achiever academically and the band student. They are one and the same.
In The Arts: An Essential Ingredient in Education, J. Buchen Milley states that "research shows that when arts are included in the student’s curriculum, reading, writing and math scores improve. Like all arts, music has a profound effect on the academic success of the student. Band is a group effort. Members are required to shift from an I/Me reasoning to a We/Us concept. This means extending oneself beyond the normal considerations of much of our day-to-day living. Instead of the logic being, what’s in it for me, it becomes, what’s in it for us. The values of cooperation, communication, concentration, correlation and completion come into play each rehearsal and performance."
Music is one of the few academic disciplines that require the student to master skills and apply them in performance. In other words, music involves multiple forms of learning.
Band builds positive self-worth. Although we share many similarities with our athletic counterparts, band is a place for everyone. Rarely is a person serving as an alternate or substitute. Everyone in the band plays a starting role.
Studies by the College Entrance Examination Board show that:
"New research on intelligence and brain function point in exciting future directions that tie directly to music, while the continuing use of music as part of the curriculum is clearly associated with both academic skills and personal characteristics that are highly desirable for school progress and for developing the kind of well-educated young people we need for the nation’s well-being."
Students (1999) with experience in music performance scored measurably higher in both verbal and math sections of the Standardized Achievement Test.
There continues to be a significant, and growing, spread between the scores obtained by musicians and those of their non-musical counterparts.
The correlation between cognitive learning and musical understanding continues to prove they are linked, and improving one will develop the other. In fact, music is suspected to be the key for unlocking the scientific mind.
The theory of "multiple intelligences" tags music as one of the separate minds, and being exposed to music strengthens all other learning forms.
Scores rise proportionately higher with the length of time spent studying music in school.
Why should you consider joining the high school band? Because high school band is unlike anything you have done before. It can greatly enhance your high school career, and it is, very simply, the best experience!