From the Podium
Hello! My name is John Bradley, and I am the Director of Bands at Florence High School. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to our web page. Florence High School grew out of the union of Bradshaw High School and Coffee High school, the two high schools which had previously served the students of Florence Alabama. When these two schools were joined to form Florence High School, a completely new identity had to be developed. As a result, we are now the Florence Falcons, and the band is known as the "Big Blue" Falcon Band.
Our band is made up of students in grades 9-12, although the ninth graders are housed at a different campus. They are bussed each day to Florence High School to be a part of the high school band. In all, we have 140 students, and have a staff of two directors, an auxiliary coordinator, and individual instructors for the majorettes, color guard, dance line, and percussion. The band is very active in all activities sponsored by the Alabama Bandmasters Association, and takes part in marching competitions and concert and sight-reading assessments every year.
The 2008-2009 school year has been a great year for the band. We started the year with a very successful band camp even though it had to be held at the Florence Freshman Center (formerly Coffee High School), because our new practice field was not finished in time. The exciting part is, though, that we are getting a new practice field which will be lighted, and have an observation tower which will be thirty feet tall. We are hoping that the new field will be completed before the end of this football season. The band has performed at seven football games, and one marching competition. At the Tri-State Band Competition, at Russellville High School, the band earned the rating of "Superior" from all judges in all categories. Our next Competition will on October 18th at the Tennessee Valley Invitational Marching Competition at Muscle Shoals High School.
Again, thank you for visiting our web page. Please visit often, as we plan to constantly update the page as the year goes along. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at jbradley@fcs.k12.al.us.
Director of Bands