blue knights

In relation to last night's post, I wanted to pay tribute to a fallen institution at my old alma mater, Tennyson High School. As I mentioned earlier, instrumental music has been dropped from my high school's budget, and as such, the program will end (though if I recall, the whole instrumental music budget was $50 for all 3 high schools in the district). In a more affluent neighborhood or a private school, something like this wouldn't have been a case...but remember that this is high school that has consistently received low test scores by state standards in one of the most underperforming districts in the country...but that's a whole different discussion.

So first, some history:

Our band teacher, John Orosco, first took the reins of the Tennyson High School Instrumental Music Department in 1999. His second year there, my freshman year, he managed to rebuild the program, revamped the jazz band, and took the group on its first trip in some 20 years, to Disneyland's Annual Magic Music Days Event.

That year spurred a slew of innovations that the instrumental music department had never seen before, such as the creation of a separate jazz small group consisting of the best musicians at Tennyson. This jazz group ended up being the premiere group to play at all the events that required the school band to show up, and even played some small gigs on the sides on the weekends for parents and friends, local city hall events, and even fundraisers at the local Target.

The mayor of the city, having enjoyed listening to this group over the years, decided
to get the Tennyson High School Blue Knights (as they were now called) to play at the World War II Memorial Opening in Washington DC in May 2004. A major fundraising effort was required, and as most musicians do, the group played for money. There was a record 52 gigs that year, much of which required a major time commitment from the already full time students, many of which who were graduating seniors.

The hard work proved successful, enough was raised for the trip, and the group performed on a national stage. So what was next? What else? Hayward happened to have a sister city in Japan, and in celebration of the many years they shared this sisterhood, the group was asked to play in Japan along with performers from other sister cities from China and Denmark, making history as the only performance group from Tennyson to ever travel abroad.

A few years later, the group traveled again to Japan, once again to celebrate the sisterhood of the cities. By this time, much of the core group had graduated already, so the alumni played a large role in keeping this tradition of excellence alive.

It's been 4 years since that last Japan trip, and unfortunately, Tennyson went through a major overhaul after low test scores prompted the state to take over the administration and therefore, the majority of the budget. As such, less emphasis on the arts and less freedom was given to students when it came to choosing classes, as the school was held to strict and at times unattainable test standards. The band program took a major hit, as those talented kids who would've joined the group were denied the chance to play.

Fast forward to 2010, and here we are, with a crippled program at the mercy of the district budget. I always knew we would all be united again someday, but I didn't think it would be on such non-felicitous terms. It was nice to see everyone again last night, and seeing each other again was like a big family reunion. In the years since, there were some who moved on from music as a focus (myself included), and others who decided to continue to pursue their love of performance. Others had different paths, some were still living out their dreams.

The cafeteria and the stage where we performed all our concerts was adorned with pictures of us throughout the past 10 years last night, and at the end of the concert we all got together for one last jam session (and I even managed to get a solo in...thank goodness I remembered the F blues scale). Once again, it was like old times, and it seemed like nothing had changed (except for the fact some of us got a little fatter).


It's a shame to see an era end like this, especially after all that was accomplished this past decade. The school received its most positive publicity during those golden years, and it wouldn't be right to say it was for naught. We left a legacy, if anything, with Tennyson. We took the school to places it had never seen before, never experienced.

My friend said it best last night when she mentioned that there are those who played football in high school or something, but there was never any guarantee that they'd still be playing football years down the line. As for us? Though the people involved may move on with their lives onto bigger and better things, years down the line, no matter what path we're going down, music will always be a part of us, and we've got the memories to prove it.

Plus, these guys were the ones who helped me spawn the Marktrix:


"well, they play pretty good music for a white bar..."
-AR