Have you ever wondered why so many students who happen to be band musicians also end up at the top of the class? Almost half of the first decile of the senior class is composed of band members or musicians who get additional credits, but could this be correlation or causation? Band students receive 7 credits for their year-long course, compared to the typical 5-credit courses including orchestra, chorus, and core curriculum classes like math and English. Band kids are required by contract to put in more after school hours, which includes holiday and weekend commitments, compared to their other musical peers. All members of the concert band must be a part of the pep band, attending 5 football games and the Thanksgiving day game as well. They also play in the Veterans’ Day assembly, at senior graduation, and in the Memorial Day assemblies, which requires graduated seniors to come into school at 9:00am the day after prom. Additionally, all band members march in the Memorial Day parade, which requires immense skill in order to master marching perfectly in time with the beat, memorizing the music, and following the conductor. 

Senior Lucas Wilt is a talented French Horn player, and he participates in 4 ensembles: concert band (7 credits), wind ensemble (2.5 credits), jazz band (3 credits), and symphony orchestra (3 credits). This brings him to a grand total of 15.5 credits for his musical ensembles, which he takes as honors. What does this do to your GPA, you might be wondering. It makes your grade weighted more heavily when it comes to your weighted GPA, so having an A in the class can be a strong factor in boosting your grade point average. Senior Natalie Whitten, who is in 3 ensembles, believes that the credits are justified “because we do extra work”. Former trombone player Braden Graney adds, “They deserve [the credits] because they do a lot after school,” and he acknowledges that the parade especially is a lot of work. 

For a different perspective, orchestra member Cate Miller speaks out saying that although she wants the additional credits, “I wouldn’t want to do a pep band”, noting that it takes a lot of time and effort, and that being in the band also means you can’t fully enjoy the football games with the student section. Sophie Degrappo, another orchestra member, is convinced that if you ask the whole school what they think about the credits “the general opinion would be that people don’t agree because no one sees how much you have to go to after school”. IHS principal Mr. Mitchell shares that the additional credits preceded Mr. Lee and started when Mr. Dolan was the director. He says it was, “because of pep band stuff, and in order for kids to go to games for a class,” the credits were put in place. He says, “Band has a lot of stuff that they have to do,” and he agrees that the credits are deserved. 

Do the extra credits in band lure more kids into signing up for the class? Senior Sam Magers shares that his motivation for joining was because “band is easier” than other classes, but he says, “It’s so mentally draining,” and can be a lot of work at times. Despite the challenges that band brings, senior Taylor Walsh argues that the credits in class are not deserved compared to other classes, such as art. She says that art students have to put in 12 hours outside of the classroom to make their artwork for an honors contract, and that while the band plays for the community, the artists have an annual art show for the public to enjoy. 

The question now remains, do band kids do enough to get this grade inflation?