UHS Bands Mid-Semester Update

Welcome back from Spring Break!

Congrats to our Concert Bands and Jazz Ensemble on your performances earlier this semester; we now look forward to Spring Concerts. The final performance for Concerts Bands is scheduled for Monday, May 11.  Various other ensembles performances will be promoted in due time, and are currently available to view on our calendars at www.unionbands.com/events 

FOR EVERYONE: 
→ Please join us this Sat Mar 28 in hosting the State Championship Qualification Event for the Winter Guard & Percussion of Oklahoma (WGPO).  Many volunteer positions for students as well as parents/adults are still available -- yes, we need YOUR help!  More info & registration at: https://www.cognitoforms.com/UnionBands/UBPCVolunteerForm2026WGPOStateChampionship 

REMINDERS FOR STUDENTS:
→ Student Leadership Team applications for the 2026 Renegade Regiment are due by this Fri Mar 27 at midnight. LINK:  https://www.cognitoforms.com/UnionBands/_202627UHSBandGuardStudentLeadershipApplication 
→ All band students have a Canvas assignment to complete, also due this Fri Mar 27. It's a simple, quick assignment and it also provides valuable information to the band directors. Thanks to the many who have already submitted!  DIRECT LINK TO SURVEY ASSIGNMENT: https://www.cognitoforms.com/UnionBands/UnionBandsPrivateLessonsSurvey  

Union Varsity Guard named Regional Champion

On Sunday March 8, the Union H.S. varsity winter guard was named Class Champion of the Winter Guard International (WGI) Tulsa Regional Championship, an event hosting competing schools from a six-state area.  Performing their program entitled “The Ascent”, the group tallied a score of 84.100 in the prelims and a score of 85.094 in the finals, ultimately winning both rounds of competition.  2026 marks Union’s first WGI Regional Championship in ten years. Congrats to the performing students and to Union Guard programs director Kylee Hubbard and her staff. The UHS varsity winter guard’s season continues with competitions during 4 of the next 5 weekends, including the state championship on April 4, and culminating at the WGI World Championship held in Dayton, Ohio, April 9-11.   

Three Union Bands Seniors named National Merit Finalists

Named 2025-2026 National Merit Semi-Finalists last September, five Union High School Seniors have advanced and been been named National Merit Finalists; among them are three Union Bands students! Let’s congratulate:

• Edwin Chen, son of Zhenyu H. Chen and Jane Luo, of Tulsa;

• Jacob Coulter, son of John and Jane Coulter, of Broken Arrow

• Rylan McClain, son of Jeremy and Chenelle McClain, of Broken Arrow
  

ABOUT NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP

These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. Finalists will be named in February 2026.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

To participate in the National Merit Scholarship Program, a student must:

• Be enrolled full time as a high school student, progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school, and planning to enter college no later than the fall following completion of high school;

• Be a citizen of the United States or, if not now a citizen, a permanent U.S. resident (or an applicant for permanent residency) in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen; and

• Take the PSAT/NMSQT ® in the specified year of the high school program and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12, regardless of grade classification or educational pattern.

center three pictured, left to right: Edwin Chen, Jacob Coulter, Rylan McClain