The 2017 – 2018 school year is just about wrapped up. In a few short weeks that final bell will ring, postponing school for the rest of the summer and allowing us all to recuperate from the long months of hard work and procrastination. Freshmen finally won’t have to worry about being the youngest class anymore while seniors will begin new lives and leave FCHS behind, hopefully not for good.
As we approach the year’s conclusion, it’s always nostalgic to look back and remember just how remarkable the year was. So many cool, exciting events and feats took place this year with perhaps some of the greatest occurring in the FCHS Band program. In late 2017, the marching band earned a superior rating for their show “Games: Children Play.” This marked four years in a row the band was able to secure the highest grade. Mr. Jacoby, the band director, and many student leaders drilled the members for months leading up to that final performance. Describing their efforts, he said, “The band worked incredibly hard. We spent all of August preparing for our show and we spent six hours a week in rehearsal plus show days preparing…that didn’t even include the time that students needed to practice outside of rehearsals.”
When asked about his reaction to the ensemble’s rating, the band director comment

ed, “Incredibly proud about the effort the students put forward. You don’t get a superior by accident. It’s something that you earn.”
Fortunately, that wasn’t the only superior rating they’ve received this year. During the early parts of 2018, the band performed their yearly concert band assessment at Lake Braddock Secondary School. There they were graded on performance, tone, unison, sight reading, complexity of the music and many other factors. To numerous band members’ excitement, Falls Church High School once again was awarded the rank of Honor Band.
Once the most daunting and stressful events were out of the way, the band participants relaxed and took a trip down to Orlando, Florida for their annual spring trip. They got the chance to ride thrilling roller coasters, catch a glimpse of some stunning aquatic animals, and take a walk around the famous and magical Diagon Alley.
After making their sleepless 12-hour return from Florida, the band performed its last official concert for the school year on May 10. It was quite a spectacular event to both watch and hear. If you’ve missed all the band’s functions up until now and you would like to see them and the seniors for one final hurrah they will be playing at FCHS’s graduation on June 7. Many popular songs have been known to make an appearance such as pieces from Skyfall, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Moana.