Bang a Drum, Proudly

Sometimes, at the beginning of another practice for Shaw High School's marching band, Director Donshon Wilson stands in front of his students and just stares at them.

They stand, too, silent and still. Waiting.

Usually, one of them finally will ask, "Why are you staring at us, Mr. Wilson?"

They know the answer, but they want to hear it again.

"Because you made it," he tells them. "You aren't out there doing drugs. You aren't out there with the gangs. You came here to play music, to be a part of this band."

They stiffen, stand a little straighter. A few smiles escape.

As often as not, Wilson adds, "I love you."

Then he holds up his baton, his face as stern as ever, and begins to count: one, two, three, four …

That's how Wilson stokes hope in East Cleveland, Ohio. One practice at a time, in one of the poorest cities in America.

In the past seven years, the Mighty Cardinal Marching Band has won about 150 trophies in competitions across America. Now the students have a chance to show the rest of the world what they can do, but they need help.

They are one of only five high-school marching bands in the country invited to perform at events preceding the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It's an incredible honor.

And it comes with a hefty price tag. They must raise $220,000 by March 18.

They have about $73,000 and less than eight weeks to go.

Too many suburbanites think kids such as these don't exist anymore in cities such as East Cleveland.

They are kids who insist that they have futures, too, even though many come from single-parent homes and violent homes and, sometimes, no home at all. More than one of Wilson's kids has spent time in a homeless shelter or slept in an abandoned building at night.

They jog and do sit-ups and crunches, and if they're late for practice, they drop to the floor and give Wilson 20 push-ups without his asking. They listen to him read letters aloud that are sent by hotel and restaurant managers who say they never have seen teenagers so well-behaved.

The Mighty Cardinals are on the honor roll and the merit roll and know one another's grades because Wilson reads those aloud, too.

And then there's the music. When they lift their instruments, they don't just play. They dance, they sing, they hoot and holler, and the energy of those 32 musicians, six flag girls and nine dancers makes you forget that your heart is pounding to the sounds of children who already know too much about the grown-up world.

"The only place people don't know how great we are is right here, in Cleveland," Wilson says.

"That's why it's so good to get the kids out of here and compete around the country. No one knows what kind of neighborhood we come from. They think we're from an upper suburb. And our kids get to see that they are more than their environment."

Wilson used to be a Mighty Cardinal. He graduated from Shaw High in 1988. He played the drums, at Shaw and at Central State University, too. He had quite the reputation, musically speaking, but he modestly explains that he was born to play the drums.

"I was banging on the wall, and pots and pans, and my mother finally said, 'I'm going to get you some drums.'"

Ten years ago, he came back to East Cleveland to help her sell her home, and he went to East Cleveland's Memorial Day parade. The only thing left of the Mighty Cardinals was a line of drummers and some dancers.

"That was it for me," he says.

At first, he volunteered to work with the drummers to improve their cadence. At practice, crowds gathered.

"You know how kids get that look in their eyes?" he says. "You know they want to do something, even if they don't know how."

One by one, instrument by instrument, he rebuilt the band.

Most of his students get music scholarships to college, he says. Too many of them have to drop out because the money runs out, and there's nowhere else to turn. He's trying to fix that, too, with an annual fundraiser. But there's only so much one man, one band, can do.

And so, I want to ask you to help.

Not because the Mighty Cardinals came to me. They didn't. I went to them and couldn't believe my ears. The thought of those kids being one of the collective faces of America feels so right.

The trip to China costs each student $3,500. About $100 of that pays for the charter bus they need to get to the airport in Chicago.

Several Cleveland companies have stepped up, including KeyCorp, the Cleveland Clinic and General Electric. They need more companies like these.

They need us, too.

At practice, the band members hang on Wilson's every word as he describes the latest fundraiser.

"People are coming through," he says. It's difficult to read his face.

"We're going to get there," he adds, softly.

Let's make sure they do.

Contributions should be made to: Shaw High School Marching Band, 14305 Shaw Ave., East Cleveland, OH 44112. For more information, call 216-268-6580.

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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