Copyright KRDO
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Rampart High School band is still celebrating their 4A state championship title. Beyond this being the band's second title in a row, it's a repeat of history at Rampart. This Thursday, the Rampart Regiment put on their banner-winning performance at Rampart High School. Less than a week after that same performance earned them back-to-back state championships. "We really had no doubt that we would do something great, and I think we were just excited to show other people how amazing it could be," Alexandra Ross, a senior on the Rampart Band, said. The Rams certainly left no doubt, claiming the high score in all three categories: Music Performance, Visual Performance, and General Effect en route to victory. That victory didn't come easy. "All these band students spend hours outside in the sun," Rampart Band Teacher Keith Acuncius said. The band started their training two full weeks before school even started. "Everyone has to memorize all their music. Not only that, just like all those, like, steps and stuff, is a lot of memorization. And then it's like every day," said Ava Yost, a senior on the Rampart Band. Last weekend marked Rampart's second state championship in a row, which at a lot of other schools would be a monumental first--the top of the mountain. But at Rampart it's been done before. In competitions at Denver's Mile High Stadium in 2005 and Colorado State's Sonny Lubick Field in 2006, the Rampart High School band went back-to-back. "It was one of the most impactful I have ever had in my life," said Robert Rodriguez, who was part of that 2006 title-winning group. "Without Rampart, I genuinely do not know what I would be doing today," Rodriguez said. Today, Robert Rodriguez teaches drumline at Seaman High School and Washburn University in Kansas. 19 years ago, he was a 15-year-old entering the Rampart High School Regiment. "It changed everything for me because all of a sudden they said, Hey, it's not enough for you to just be a good musician. We need you to be deeper than that. We need you to be a strong person." Rodriguez said at that time he was coasting by on musical talent and wasn't taking his academics very seriously. That changed when he transferred into Rampart High School and became part of the band, then led by Gary Arrowsmith and Chad Culver. Rodriguez said it was that discipline and culture at Rampart that set him up for the future. He only spent one year at the school, but he carries those lessons and memories with him still. "When I found out that they not only won state but did it again, I have no problem saying that it brought a tear to my eye," Rodriguez admitted. "This is my favorite thing that I've ever done. It's built habits that I would probably not have without it, like, really good habits. I have amazing memories, and not only that, relationships that I will probably carry through the rest of my life," Yost said, reflecting on her time in the regiment. "I am thinking about every single one of those kids that just experienced that, that had that same feeling I did when I was 15, because for me, it changed the trajectory of my life," Rodriguez said. Congratulations to all the students and teachers a part of the Rampart Regiment.
