The Yelm community has shown that when things get tough, it can be relied on to help out, such as when area residents rallied in early September to raise funds for the Yelm High School band to return full time.
In early September, YHS band director Scott Pierson and the 40 Yelm High School band members were unsure of what their schedule would be for the 2024-25 school year as the program faced a list of cuts due to the levy failure.
The cuts included August’s marching band camp; reducing concert performances from three to one; reducing performances to two home football games instead of attending all; performing at only four home basketball games instead of all; no postseason performances for sports; no allocation for after-school marching band rehearsals; and no Christmas in the Park performance.
After the band was forced to sit out of the Sept. 6 matchup against Mount Tahoma, the “YHS Connects” booster club launched a fundraiser the very next day to fully fund Pierson’s stipend, which would allow the marching band to return to a full time schedule. The organization met its goal of $4,000 by the end of the weekend, and eventually collected over $10,000, according to the band director.
“I’m humbled at a minimum. It’s cool that we’re getting to continue on in amidst the turbulence and uncertainty. This is technically my 19th year here, and we’re in uncharted waters,” Pierson said. “It was weird not being at the first game, if I’m being honest. At the same point and time, sometimes you don’t realize what you’ve had until it’s not there for a moment. I think people, if nothing else, realized the value added of the band at the games, which makes me happy. I can’t imagine going to a college football game and the band not being there because it’s so much about the tradition and the spirit, the symbiosis of the band, the football team, the cheerleaders and the dance team.”
Kait Toompas, with YHS Connects, said the fundraiser collected a total of $4,524.63 for the 2024-25 school year. She added that the district will not receive any levy dollars until the 2026-27 school year, if the school board proceeds with another one and that next one is passed. The booster club anticipates fundraising next year and confirmed that any funds over the amount needed will stay with the band committee.
Pierson, during an interview on Friday, Sept. 27, with the Nisqually Valley News, said, during the YEA contract negotiations prior to the start of the school year, he was told to postpone scheduling anything band related until a contract agreement was met.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t find out what was being cut until right before school started,” Pierson said. “As soon as I knew, I relayed that information to students to let them know that in the new contract language we’d only be playing half of the football games and half of the basketball games that we have in the past.
“I would say that my leadership and the band at large were disappointed,” he added. “It was hard for me to be able to plan on what was going to happen in the year as well. It left a lot of uncertainty.”
After missing the first Tornados’ football game, the band only had the Sept. 20 game against Kamiakin and the upcoming Oct. 11 homecoming game against Bonney Lake on their schedule.
“It was interesting because I did not know any of this was going to happen. It was not pushed for or advocated for by me. I woke up on Friday morning because the game was on Thursday, and saw a post from the booster club and in the ‘Reaching Out: Yelm’ Facebook page about raising money for the band and my stipend,” Pierson said. “I thought if that’s what [YHS Connects] wants to do, then let’s hit the ground running and get it going.”
For Pierson, the generosity of the local community was huge for the band program, which he described as being “really strong” this school year.
The marching band will next perform during halftime of the Tornados matchup on Friday, Oct. 4 against the Graham-Kapowsin Eagles.
“My student leadership, I cannot give them enough kudos for the way they’ve worked behind the scenes in stepping up and making sure things are ready to go. We’re not really that far behind where we’d normally be,” Pierson said. “It’s been really fun so far. My student leadership is exceptional this year. The group itself is really strong, and the students are having a really good time. I want to say thank you to the community for their support in making this happen — just like they did for C-team sports. They see the value added that the band brings to the games, and I’m really appreciative for that.”