Jessica Schierkolk named to All-State Band

Hot Springs County High School senior Jessica Schierkolk has been named to the Wyoming State band, becoming the first HSCHS student in eight years to receive the prestigious honor.

Schierkolk started playing trumpet eight years ago and has been playing with teacher Dustin Olsen the entire time.

The talented trumpet player practiced her audition piece daily for the months leading up her audition and beat out over 280 other players to be named one of the 19 trumpets on the ensemble.

"When he [Olsen] initially told me, I was in basketball practice. He walked in and I saw him, and we were doing dribbling drills. He looked really upset, so I was like, 'oh crap,'... He seriously looked mad, so I went over and talked to him and he raised his hand, and I don't even remember what he said," Schierkolk remembered.

"Congratulations," Olsen reminded her.

"I almost cried, I jumped around and hugged him," Schierkolk continued. "To be honest, I'd rather make All-State in trumpet than state in basketball."

Schierkolk's years of hard work have paid off. "I feel really accomplished," she said, noting that she worked with Olsen every day for over an hour just for her audition, even through the county's first power outage of the winter.

"Once she's chosen, that's the hardest part. Now you just work really hard on the music and have it prepared. The competition part is essentially over," said Olsen. Around 200 people have been named to the ensemble.

When asked what was next, Olsen said, "Now we wait for music. It should come in next week." One the music arrives, Schierkolk will spend all of her free time studying it before the ensemble gathers in Cheyenne.

Once in Cheyenne with the entire ensemble, Schierkolk will again have to prove her talent. "In the trumpets, there are three different parts," she said. "I'll have to do a chair placement within the second trumpets to decide which seat I'm in." Then, once seats are figured out, the ensemble will practice for their January 19 concert.

The Hot Springs senior has enlisted in the Army and will serve after graduation, but that will not end her trumpet playing career. "I was thinking about playing after I serve a tour, to see if I can get into the band," she said. "I feel like I personally excel in music, so I would like to make a career in it," she said of her post-Army plans.

The band is open to all Wyoming high school students from grades 9-12. All participants have to travel to a designated location to record an anonymous audition, which then gets reviewed by judges. Almost a month after auditions are finished, finalists are contacted.

The ensemble's performance is scheduled for January 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Cheyenne South High School. The program is run by the Wyoming High School Activities Association.