“Band is something you can do for a lifetime,” says Allison Grace, the junior high band director at Herrin Schools. “It becomes part of who you are.”

The sound of flutes warming up in Herrin Junior High’s band room is bright and a little breathy—scales rising, laughter falling, the easy rhythm of students discovering what practice can become when it turns into purpose.

That’s what’s happening for Lydia Clough and Karli Wilson, two young flutists who were recently selected for the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) District Band. It’s one of the highest honors available to middle-school musicians in southern Illinois—and for Herrin, it’s a reflection of the program’s growing strength and spirit.

“It’s a big deal,” Grace says, smiling. “Thousands of students audition, and only a small number are chosen. For two of them to come from Herrin, both on flute—that’s special.”

Grace understands that feeling firsthand. A Herrin High School Class of 2017 graduate, she once sat under these same ceiling tiles, learning from the same teachers who inspired her to return. “Mr. Lewis was my band director, and Mrs. Simmons at the high school really poured into me,” she recalls. “They taught me to love music, and now I get to teach others to love it, too.”

After earning her degree from Murray State University in 2021, Grace came home to teach. Now in her fifth year in the classroom and her second leading the junior high program, she blends structure with warmth. “We work hard,” she says, “but we laugh hard too.” For her, band isn’t just about precision—it’s about belonging. “There’s no bench in band,” she adds. “Everyone plays, everyone belongs.”

That inclusiveness is what drew Lydia and Karli deeper into the craft.

Lydia, an eighth grader with a calm determination, first picked up the flute in fifth grade. “At first, I just liked how it sounded,” she says. “But then I realized what you could express with it.” She admires Stevie Nicks for her individuality and courage—traits she channels in everything she does, from Student Council to Best Buddies to the National Junior Honor Society. “To get the things you want,” Lydia says, “you have to work for it.”

Karli, a seventh grader, remembers watching the fifth-grade band years ago and imagining herself among them. “When Ms. Grace told me I made ILMEA, I couldn’t stop smiling,” she says. Alongside band, she cheers, plays volleyball, and competes on the math team. Her dream is to attend culinary school and become a chef—but wherever life takes her, she plans to keep playing. “It makes me feel good when people see that I’m trying to get better,” she says.

Their director couldn’t be prouder. “They just work really hard,” Grace says. “They don’t settle. They’re always asking questions, always wanting to learn more. They lead by example.”

That drive began months before school started. Both girls practiced their audition pieces through summer break, rehearsed with care, and waited anxiously for results that arrived over fall break—only to learn they had both been selected.

The honor carries a lesson that extends beyond the music room. “I see so much growth in students who do this,” Grace says. “They learn that effort matters, that if you keep at something, you really can achieve it.”

Lydia and Karli see those lessons, too. “Music teaches me discipline,” Lydia says. “For things you want, you have to work for them.” And Karli adds, “It’s made me more confident.”

Both credit their families—and Grace herself—for helping them believe in their potential. “My dad played saxophone in a band,” Karli says. “He really understands and helps me with everything.” Lydia smiles at her teacher. “She’s been my band director since fifth grade, and she’s helped me push myself.”

In a town that both students describe as “quirky” and “proud,” Herrin takes special pride in its music. For Grace, that pride comes full circle. She still plays flute in a community ensemble alongside musicians in their seventies and eighties. “Music connects people who might not have anything else in common,” she says. “It gives you a language that lasts.”

As rehearsal winds down, the two young flutists pack their instruments and talk quietly about their next performance. The band room grows still again, but the feeling lingers—the sense that something bright and lasting has begun.

In Herrin, that’s what music does: it finds you, and then it keeps you.