Twenty high school seniors from Marion County proved Wednesday and Thursday that being an athletic star or prestigious scholar isn’t the only way to receive a collegiate scholarship.
West Marion had nine of its 10 senior band members sign Tuesday, with four joining Pearl River Community College, four signing with William Carey and one with Jones College.
Presley Hathorn, Carrie Nelson, Jazmyne Mark and Alyssa Rogers will be heading to Poplarville to play with the “Spirit of the River” marching band at Pearl River. Angelina Hamel, CJ Barnes, Amber Hemphill and Tanner Mulford will play at William Carey, and Amanda Bozeman is going to Jones.
Trojans Band Director Ryan Pippin said seeing them advance their musical careers is the reason why they invest so much in it.
“Seeing them passionate about music and continuing their musical career — some are majoring in music and some are not — but they’re still playing their instrument. That’s what we want,” he said. “We want to create lifelong hobbies and habits for them as something they can do and be proud of. It’s encouraging for our younger kids to see that there is a future with band.”
East Marion’s Corey Batimon also signed with Pearl River Thursday morning, and he said that knowing that he could go to college through band helped shape his life.
“It’s surreal because honestly I didn’t think I would make it this far. Really it’s been kind of hard because sometimes I almost gave up, but I knew I couldn’t just give up,” he said. “I didn’t want to be stuck where I am; I wanted to go further.”
While she didn’t sign Thursday, East Marion Band Director Orlando Ratliff said Janessa Owens is also continuing her band career in college and will attend Mississippi State.
The state champion Marching Wildcats at Columbia High School had 10 signees Thursday afternoon. Connor Ross, Tyler Beasley, Dylan Henderson, Kennedy Browning, Andrew Daugherty and Neely Simmons are heading to Pearl River. Jasha Lewis and Jamia Boyd will attend Jones. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is adding Jason Ball, and Jacob Brown will spend next year at Southwest Mississippi Community College, where he will also play tennis.
CHS Principal Braxton Stowe thanked them all for bringing him his first-ever state championship as a principal and said that while he marched in junior high and high school he never knew a high school band could be so talented and play diverse music until he arrived in Columbia. He also offered advice.
“Don’t take for granted this opportunity, this blessing that you have for getting a scholarship,” he said.
Pictured Above: West Marion High School had nine of its 10 senior band members sign to play at the collegiate level Tuesday. Four of them, seated from left, Presley Hathorn, Carrie Nelson, Jazmyne Mark and Alyssa Rogers signed with Pearl River Community College. They were joined by Trojans Band Director Ryan Pippin and PRCC Band Director Reuben McDowell. | Photo by Josh Campbell
