Dear editor,
I wanted to address the letter to the editor in the paper about the Iola high school and middle school bands not performing at the Veterans Day Parade.
The Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA) has been hosting the All Southeast Kansas District Auditions on this weekend for the past three years. Our music students are very involved in these auditions and do very well.
This year we had the following numbers of students make the All-District roster: Jazz Band — 11 students; Concert Band — 14 students, and Orchestra — 4 students.
We regret that this conflict exists but we believe these students represent the USD 257 School District and our community very well and we are very proud of them.
We do not mean to disrespect our veterans in any way. But the KMEA event affords our students the opportunity to compete and be recognized for their musicianship outside our community to regional and state levels. We also believe their hard work deserves this recognition.
Again, we regret this conflict exists.
Thanks!
Jack Koehn,
USD 257 superintendent
of schools,
Iola, Kan.
