IMEA is the Indiana Musical Educators Association, a conference for music teachers in Indiana held in Fort Wayne. The conference also lets students from each school represent their band. It gives opportunities for students interested in a musical career. Seniors AJ Lopez, Brody Wilcox, and junior Braeden Campbell are the three students representing Paoli this year.

Band Director Christian Karkosky was very impressed with the three students’ conduct at the event.

“Our three students did a great job representing the school, community, band program, and themselves. They went to IMEA extremely prepared and were able to fit in fairly quickly with the group,” said Karkosky.

He was also proud to have students be a part of such an important event. 

“The Honor Band is made up of some of the best high school musicians from around the state, so to be included in that is a true honor.  They learned a lot about performance and rehearsing with a large group, and those skills can be relayed to the rest of the students in the band,” said Karkosky.

Karkosky also explained that this is a great opportunity for them to learn more about other people. “They also got to interact with people from across the state, gaining perspective on how cultures differ from place to place, and yet realise how similar they are to other students.  Overall, it was a really great experience that I hope to provide to as many students as possible in the future, it’s fun, informative and worthwhile,” said Karkosky.

Karkosky wasn’t the only one that was proud to be a part of this, but also the three members who were permitted to attend, and were excited to share their experience.

“It was a very professional experience,” said Campbell.

The players were also excited to meet new people, and share their passion for music with each other.

“The experience was interesting. There were so many different types of players in the band that when we played our songs, everyone felt emotionally connected to the pieces we played. I feel proud for AJ, Braeden and I going and hope others make it as well because it’s a great experience for everyone,” said Wilcox.