Three Floyd County students have been selected for the All-State band for 2012

Media release: Three Floyd County students have been selected for the All-State band for 2012.  Pepperell High's Candice Rittenhouse, a senior, and Caleb Cole, a sophomore, have been selected for the state honor at the high school level and Model Middle's Kelly Wheeler, an eighth-grade clarinet player, has been selected for the middle school band.  The GEMA All-State Band Festival will be held March 1-3 in Savannah.

Candice Rittenhouse, the Dragon band's drum major, will play contra-alto clarinet in the All-State Symphonic Band for juniors and seniors.  She has a 3.9 grade point average, played clarinet for the Northwest Georgia Winds, played with the PHS Jazz Band, the Symphonic Band, and performed in the PHS drama program.  Rittenhouse has been selected for Floyd County Honor Band all four years, selected for District Honor Band for three years, selected to Jacksonville State University Honor Band for three years and Troy University Honor Band this past year.  She has also participated in chorus, Key club, FBLA and the Fine Arts club at PHS.  Rittenhouse served as historian for the Student Council and has been selected to the National Honors Society.      

Caleb Cole will play the French horn in the Concert Band for freshman and sophomores.  He has a 4.0 grade point average, participated in the PHS Jazz Band and has been selected to the District Jazz Band.  Cole has been selected for All-State Chorus, the Jacksonville State University Honor Band, District Honor Band, District Honor Chorus, Floyd County Honor Band, and Floyd County Honor Chorus.  Cole has also played on the PHS tennis team and he has been selected Student of the Month twice at Pepperell.    

Kelly Wheeler is a high honor roll student at Model Middle School.  She marched clarinet this past fall with the Model High School Marching Blue Devil Band and she has attended Jacksonville State University Honor Band, Floyd Co. Honor Bands, Seventh District Honor Band and 7th District Clinic band. Wheeler is also a member of the math team at Model Middle School.

More than 450 students from the 45 high schools just in the Northwest Georgia region auditioned for All-State Band.  To earn acceptance in to All-State Band, students are required to play lyrical and technical etudes and sight-read for a panel of judges.