The band students from Thomas Hunter Middle School and Mathews High School have had a busy second semester so far.

The semester began with the All-District Honor Band auditions on Jan. 5. Selected students auditioned for this event (Katelyn James and Edwin Hudgins from THMS and Shannon Enders from MHS).

All three were selected for the honor band out of almost 1,000 total student auditions from Williamsburg, Gloucester, York, Newport News and Hampton schools.

On the weekend prior to District Band, Jan. 25-27, these students, along with Reagan Jackson from THMS and Locke Tucker, Caleb Miller, Sophie Beckley and Megan Zuhowski from MHS, attended the 16th annual Virginia Tech Honor Band.

The students were selected by the faculty and staff at Virginia Tech through a process where their directors nominated 10 students from each school. Out of more than 1,500 nominations from seven states, 500 students were selected to participate in five performing ensembles. The ensembles were condu...