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Pirate Band Sweeps Up Third Sweepstakes in Three Years
The highest honor that a high school band can receive in Oklahoma is the Sweepstakes. This honor is given to those select few schools who receive the highest ratings in all three major Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletic Association (OSSAA) competitions. The Sperry Band of Pirates achieved this high honor for the fifth time. More impressively, this is the third year in a row that the Pirates have brought home the sweepstakes after a long year of achieving highest honors at competitions from fall through spring.
The sweepstakes is the culmination of receiving of Superior from each judge in each of the three OSSAA major competitions. There are more than 120 bands in the OSSAA 3A category, and only the highest few will achieve the necessary high ratings at each of the competitions. The Pirates are again one of these highest few. In October, the Sperry High School Marching Band performed for three judges, in March, the stage band performed for four judges, and finally, in the state competition for stage band, the Pirates performed selections for three judges for stage performance and then for three additional judges for sightreading—performing a selection they had not practiced before. In each case, the Pirates proved their quality by achieving Superior ratings from every judge.
“They work hard all year long,” Sperry High School Band Director Makayla West said. “There is no break in their schedule. They move from marching to concert to ensemble and solo competitions from the start of the year to the end. To earn Superior ratings at so much of what they do is impressive.”
“Four of the five years that Sperry received the Sweepstakes honors were under the band directorship of Ms. West,” Sperry Schools Superintendent Dr. Brian Beagles said. “That Speaks highly not only of her ability to direct the band, but in the development of a program that exemplifies our motto of ‘Excellence in Education.’”
