Madison City students earn district, state band honors; student places fourth in state spelling bee

The Madison City Board of Education on March recognized dozens of band students from multiple schools for selection to District 1 honor bands and All-State placement, and presented a county spelling bee champion who placed tied for fourth in the Alabama state spelling bee.

Administrators and band directors from Discovery Middle School, Liberty, Journey Middle School, James Clemens and other schools introduced students who earned district honor band slots or advanced to All-State. School staff reported that Discovery had four district honor band students and noted the district's extremely competitive District 1, which covers Madison, Morgan and Limestone counties.

Journey Middle School said it more than doubled its honor-band selections from the prior year and listed three students who made All-State. James Clemens reported 25 district honor-band qualifiers and noted 17 students advanced to All-State.

Superintendent and board members praised fine-arts teachers and described recent investments: the board and finance department approved new instruments earlier in the budget cycle and allocated money for instrument repair so parent fundraising need not cover all maintenance.

Separately, a spelling bee champion from the district described advancing to the fourth round of the Alabama state spelling bee and tying for fourth place; the student recited the word that ended his run ("chasuble") and the board congratulated him for reaching the final nine students.

District leaders asked Mr. Peck to take photos of the recipients and thanked parents and teachers for supporting students through auditions and competitions.