EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - Although 16 graduating members of the Shaw High School marching band in East Cleveland did not have their musical instruments in their hands, there was music in where they all sat facing their parents and other supporters.
The students all signed "letters of intent" to attend colleges or universities. The East Cleveland School System makes a special program of the letter signings for its members of the high school marching band.
"Thirty percent of what we do is music," said Donshon Wilson, the band director. "However, the other 70 percent is academics."
The students sat shoulder-to-shoulder at long tables as their parents and other supporters beamed smiles across a room, where marching band trophies glittered under the daylight streaming through the windows. Some parents cried with happiness for the graduating seniors.
"Mr. Wilson made him realize that you start being serious," said Sheila Scruggs, describing how music helped her son find a stronger place in life. "Mr. Wilson taught him to be a leader, not a follower."
Videographer: WEWSTV; Shaw High School Mighty Cardinal Band, East Cleveland, Ohio, May 31, 2011.
Videographer: rodneyreynoldsrr; SHAW HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND, Jan. 23, 2011.
Videographer:jaboes; The Shaw Band marched in the 2008 International Marching Band Salute to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was an event of the Beijing City Festival "Perform in Harmony-With Olympic Spirit" and it was an honor for the Shaw Band students of inner-city East Cleveland, Ohio to be selected as one of the premier bands to represent the USA. Shaw was one of only five U.S. high schools playing in the International Salute to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China. Band director Donshon Wilson said the community donated about $500,000 to help send 52 students and 16 adults to China, purchase new uniforms and instruments, and funds to start a middle school band feeder program in East Cleveland.
The institutions the students agreed to attend were Central State (Ohio), Alabama State, Kent State, Bowling Green and Youngstown State Universities. Also on the list were Florida A&M, Wilberforce, Howard University, Cuyahoga Community College, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and the University of Toledo.
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