This class made Ramsey history! After coming out of COVID coming into 6th grade, their first live performance they ever gave was at KMEA Large Ensemble Assessment!! They are the first ensemble at Ramsey to go to assessment every year of middle school but also get "distinguished" ratings every year!! This group was our first class to really pull students from our rotation class into year long orchestra. We started with 20 and ended with 45 and maintained that number all three years! This ensemble set the standard for the Ramsey Orchestra in literature and musical maturity! We will miss them so much! 

This class had such an unique middle school experience! This class was our first year of having the rotation class BUT we were 100% virtual in 6th grade. These students completely missed out on in-person, hands on, collaborative music making their most important year. They did not get any of the extra events, include KMEA Large Ensemble Assessment. Their first live performance was at KMEA Assessment in 7th grade so over a year and a half of orchestra with no showcase! They triumphed in 8th grade having a full year of music making with a "distinguished" to finish strong! They grew unbelievably with all the COVID restrictions. Use that perseverance to endure the world!

Mr. Turner's first 6th grade class ever! This class persevered through COVID at the end of 6th grade after attending KMEA Assessment, fully NTI 7th grade, but then receive distinguished ratings their 8th grade year. 7th grade year was spent during NTI which kept them from performing together. So proud they pushed through those are times!

Coming off of their distinguished rating in 2020, that would be the last time this group would perform together due to COVID. They had a slow start in 6th grade, had to rebuild in 7th grade, then got put to NTI for the rest of their middle school career! Although they experienced orchestra through NTI, we kept 100% retention, and every student is enrolled in their HS orchestra. They will be more than prepared coming into their freshmen year!

This class had to endure what most programs do not have to; having a different orchestra teacher every year of middle school. That did not stop them. They spent this year building well beyond where they started and by March, playing high school literature and receiving straight distinguished at district assessment. I'm going to miss the super diverse personalities, ridiculous laughes, great soloists, and hearing them perform musicality beyond their years, truthfully. Unfortunately, the day after assessment, COVID shut down everything so they did not get to finish middle school in-person. I'm sorry we didn't get more time together, but I'm thankful for the time we got.