When laptops are this cheap, why deal with the expense, effort, and bitter infighting of a real live marching band?

As we all know, the Marching Saxons have played at every homecoming game since Westglade High was founded in 1924, except for a three-year stint during World War II when gold braid was rationed. But recent cuts in school funding at the state level have eliminated the budget for our marching band program.

So it is with a heavy heart that I must announce that Westglade has marched its last Saxon. Effective with the new school year, the Marching Saxons will be disbanded. All instruments, costumes, and equipment will be sold, with the proceeds to be used for new power strips in the Social Media Lab.

But that doesn’t mean our school functions will be silent. I’m pleased to introduce our school’s first-ever Marching Laptop Artist. You may know him as sophomore Jamie Barrera, but when he’s working the ones and zeroes, he calls himself FuudSTAMPz. And I, for one, can’t wait to hear the new-school style he’ll bring to the old school spirit.

Fortunately, the only equipment FuudSTAMPz needs to kick his steez is a Lenovo ThinkPad T60. For the price of one battered, entry-level secondhand trumpet, we get an Intel CoreDuo T2400 1.83GHz processor, a 15” anti-glare display, and a 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery. It comes with a docking station, which our shop class is modifying into some kind of marching harness. We’re also retrofitting our PA system so it’s Bluetooth-compatible.

Now, to usher us out of the old era and into the new, the Marching Saxons will play one final rendition of our school song, “O Hallowed Westglade, We Stand for Thee”, which Jamie will mash up with “Dont Cha”, “Separate Ways”, “Pon de Replay”, and “Strip”. Take it away, FuudSTAMPz!

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