Letters to Eighth Graders

In band, one of the recent assignments was to write letters to kids in the local middle school’s band, encouraging them to take part in band when they come to high school. I found a couple of these letters on the floor of the band room recently. The first was written by a boy who has a slight mental handicap, and his penmanship is clumsy, like that of a much younger kid.

Dear [name censored],
Hi I’m [name censored], I’m a member of the .... High School Wind Ensemble (Advanced Band) and I play Bass Clairnet. I understand you play alto saxaphone. The alto sak is a fun instrument to play. At the High School you will enjoy the music offer we have for alto. At the High School we also have fun with Home foot Ball games, 3 Boy’s and Girls Basket Ball Games, Marching Band competitions, 4 concerts a year, and we go to some cities for band compotition. I forgot to mention that I am a junior (a senior your freshman year.) I hope to see you next year,

Your friend,

[name censored]

The second is also written to the same alto sax-playing eighth-grader. This one is in much neater, more feminine writing, and the writer of the letter draws hearts under her exclamation points, and she includes lots of smiley faces. Even though the letter is handwritten, she still draws her smileys sideways.

Hey [name censored],
What’s up man! I haven’t seen you in a while but I will soon since your joining band next year! Your going to love it! Believe me it’s like three million times better than middle school band :) And all the alto sax players are incredibly nice and funny so you’ll fit right in! I can’t wait to see you and hey even though at times it might seem a little hard stick in there, cause you’ll regret dropping out. And one more thing the Band is a family and once you join you’ll always be part of it. Band is a blast and we do some pretty amazing shows so whatever you do stay in band and rock your alto sax :) Can’t wait to see you next year with all the other soon to be new freshmen :)

Love always,

[name censored]

She signed with a big heart drawn around “love.”