Everett middle school band marching in Seattle Macy’s parade

EVERETT — Every year around this time, Anita Valdez gets up early to brew a cup of coffee, turn on the TV and watch the holiday parades.

Seattle’s Macy’s Holiday Parade is a Valdez favorite with its marching bands from Western Washington high schools.

“I have been faithful for years and I always thought, ‘Man, we could do that,’ ” said the Explorer Middle School band teacher.

Come 8:45 a.m. Friday, Valdez won’t be watching from afar. Her band of sixth- through eighth-graders will be in the middle of it all, playing “Sleigh Bells” for the masses.

Explorer will be the lone middle school band in the annual procession through downtown Seattle. It will join 14 high school marching bands that include Edmonds-Woodway and Marysville-Pilchuck.

Roughly 120 members of Explorer’s band will make the march, appearing between a Seattle radio station float and a “Bobtail Brigade” of English sheepdogs.

“I’m very, very excited,” said Bianca Henslee, a sixth-grade trombone player who is all of 4 feet, 10 inches and 76 pounds.

The band is a contrast of big and tall and slight and small. That makes striding in unison, both in length and height of steps, one of many challenges.

So, too, is finding a way to meld the skills of veteran eighth-graders with those of wide-eyed sixth-graders, many of whom picked up an instrument for the first time in September and still have trouble remembering which is their left foot.

All of which is part of a day’s work for a middle school band teacher who started the band program with about 60 students a decade ago and has watched it grow to about 175 members this year.

“They won’t be faking it,” Valdez said of her sixth-graders. “They’ll be playing parts at their level.”

It’ll be quite an undertaking. At 6 a.m. Friday, the first of the band members will show up at the school in south Everett to get their hair put into French braids. Inspections will be made to make sure shirts are tucked in and stay that way. Bins of donated white shoes will be sifted through to find footwear that fits students’ fast-growing feet. Just in case, parents will be on the prowl with white tape for shoes that don’t meet the color code.

Principal Ali Williams plans to be there Friday.

“I think this is a great opportunity for our students to be able to play in such a large venue,” she said. “This is big. This is really big. We have children who have never been to Seattle.”

Explorer sent a recording and a formal application to parade organizers, but school officials weren’t told why the band was chosen.

The students are eager to be part of something big, rain or shine, whether it’s unseasonably warm or wintry cold.

“It makes it worth it for all the hard work,” said Andrew Santos, a drum major.

Santos has found middle school band to be a wonderful combination of students from different social groups as well as kids from the surrounding neighborhood and others from across in the Mukilteo School District who are enrolled in the Summit program for gifted students.

Two years ago, he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to join band. Now, he can’t imagine school without it.

“It is really surprising how many kids love band,” he said. “I thought band was for geeks. It’s totally cool. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

Scott Ferguson, an eighth-grade trumpet player, said Friday’s parade makes getting to school for marching band by 7:30 a.m. — an hour before most of his peers — worthwhile.

“Middle schools generally don’t do this,” he said. “It’s usually high schools. So this is an honor.”

Jenna Field, a seventh-grader who plays clarinet, lives in the Harbour Pointe neighborhood in Mukilteo, but chose to attend Explorer largely because of Valdez and her band program.

“I kind of wanted to follow in my brothers’ footsteps and go through band with (Valdez),” she said.

Melissa Tayon, an eighth-grade drum major, likes the feeling of being of being part of something big.

“The best part of band is just meeting people who share the same passion for music as you do,” he said. “You can make friends easily because everyone likes music. We just live it and breathe it.”

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.