FOUKE, Ark. - The Fouke High School Band won its third consecutive 3A State Marching Band Championship in Little Rock last week.
It not only won the championship trophy, but also every other recognition available. These included a first division rating, outstanding visual performance and outstanding musical performance. It was the first time in the past three years they have swept the awards.
Don Colquitt, first-year band director at Fouke High School, deferred credit to the previous band director, Buddy Deese, saying he just had to uphold the continuity and tradition Deese left.
"When (Buddy) got here, there were like 12 or 15 kids in the high school band," he said. "And he really did the hard work of building the program up to where it is today. I'm just maintaining what he already got started."
This is Colquitt's third year at Fouke, but his first year with the high school band, after previously being over the junior high band. Colquitt said between him, Buddy Deese and percussion teacher Russell Roberts, there was more than 100 years of experience between them teaching band.
After Deese left, Colquitt took everything he'd learned from him and took it into what he didn't know at the time would become an unprecedented year of schooling, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
His band wasn't able to practice together until August, after previously planning on starting in June. And when they did, there were a myriad of hoops to jump through, as far as safety guidelines and protocols.
They were only able to bring 30 kids to Little Rock, as opposed to the 50 they brought the year before. Nonetheless, they achieved what they wanted to achieve.
"It's just the kids," Colquitt said. "They've really bought into it. It has been a struggle, but these kids have handled it really well. Their eyes are on that prize, and they knew what we were shooting for. And they did what they needed to do."
Colquitt said the band lost around 18 seniors after last year's championship, but were able to rally back and repeat. This type of consistency, he said, has become what's expected for the Fouke band.
"For those kids to lose that many seniors and come back this year, I was very impressed," he said. "It shows that from day one, they know that's their target. We don't really talk about it, and we try not to jinx it. But we all know that's what we're shooting for, is that chance to march in Little Rock. It's become a tradition."