In order to nurture and build talent, one needs a comfortable environment to work, and now the Columbia Heights High School band has a new, functioning space for them to practice with their instruments.

Back in November 2018, a referendum proposed the building of a brand new band room at Columbia Heights High School, as the old one had not been remodeled in over a decade. Not only was it outdated and below the standards of the average high school band room, the space was also a safety hazard. The ceiling had missing tiles, and the walls had long lost its soundproof padding. The old carpet soaked up leftover spit from the instruments, and exposed pipes hung so low that students often hit their heads. One pipe in the far back, when hit, would make a loud ringing noise in math teacher Mr. Daniel Honigs’s room upstairs.

The new addition the school built comes equipped with a large flat-screen TV that is hoped to be used for video conferences with other schools and directors, hanging microphones for recording and three soundproof practice rooms (one of which has a tub for washing larger brass instruments like baritones and tubas). The new windows are controlled with remote control blinds and higher ceilings for better acoustics, but perhaps the biggest change—other than the room itself—is the addition of brand new cubbies for students to store their instruments. 

In the old room, there was only a small annex where students would have to fit multiple instruments into one space. 

“It was very loud and crowded, [and] there wasn’t enough space to comfortably move around,” Hannah Stewart (12) said.

Now, while some of the bigger instruments still share spaces, most instruments have their own individual storage. 

The new practice area is a significant improvement; not only is the ambience much better, but the space itself is now flat, opposed to the risers in the old band room, which put the back row and percussionists over the rest of the band. The new band room more closely replicates how the band sits and performs during concerts.

“The new space is absolutely beautiful,” band teacher Mrs. Caitlin Storm-DiSalvi said. “We have so much natural light, but the best part is definitely all the storage space.”

Storm-DiSalvi has been at Heights since 2018 and knows all too well that not every band program has the same support as Heights does. 

“I think our school—and our community—have given us a space that shows what a priority the arts are for the district,” Storm-DiSalvi said. “I have taught in enough places that I know the arts aren’t as appreciated [elsewhere] as they are here.”

Not only is the new band room good for current students, but the incoming students will benefit greatly from it as well.

“I know that next year a lot of the freshmen that are coming in are interested in band, so having this new, open space will hopefully encourage students to stay in band, if not join the class,” Danielle Dickson (9) said.

The band room isn’t only a place for students to practice their skills, but it is a place for students to hang out if they have nowhere else to go or a place to decompress after a bad day.