Nathan Sackman (left), music teacher at 10th Street Middle School, congratulated three of his students who qualified for the Junior All-State Band. Eighth graders (L-R) Colby Kennedy, Franqui Rojas and Ben Northrop will take part in a special concert on Feb. 13 in Yakima.

Marysville School District offers families the freedom to choose the public school that best fits their needs. 10th Street School is a unique middle school where all 170 students take both band and art as their only two electives for three years. Every student plays an instrument at the small Marysville school with the motto "Mozart Matters."

For the first time in the history of 10th Street Middle School, three students have been selected to participate in the Washington Junior All-State Band. Eighth-graders Franqui Rojas, Ben Northrop and Colby Kennedy will be the only instrumental music students representing the Marysville School District this year in a best-of-the-best band performance along other top music students in the state of Washington.

The 10th Street musicians, who competed against approximately 2,500 students statewide, were chosen by the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA) to perform at the Junior All-State concert in Yakima, Washington, on Saturday, February 13.

"This is a true testimony to the hard work and dedication of these three students along with the superb leadership of the school's musical director, Nathan Sackman," said Mario Rojas, Franqui's father.

Franqui plays bass clarinet, Ben plays trombone and Colby is a clarinetist.

Since the school's founding in 1995, this is the first time that any 10th Street students have been selected for the state honor.

"As a band teacher, I cannot express how proud I am to have these three students as part of my program," said Sackman. "These students work hard everyday to achieve good grades in school, participate in extracurricular activities, and be wonderful members of the community here in Marysville. I am so excited to see their hard work paying off."