Morgan Benedict will be graduating from Coconino High School (CHS) Friday with plans to continue the education in music and engineering he started in high school.
鈥淚鈥檓 super excited for graduating,鈥� he said, noting that this will be his first time taking part in the commencement ceremony as a graduate rather than as part of the musical accompaniment.
Benedict is a percussionist in both the concert and marching bands at CHS and completed three years of engineering classes through his school鈥檚 CIT (Coconino Institute of Technology) program. He has plans to continue both tracks with a dual major in chemical engineering and music performance at the University of Arizona (UA) starting in the fall.
He said he chose to major in chemical engineering because he enjoyed studying chemistry at CHS and it's a step toward his childhood dream of working for NASA.
He decided to attend UA after seeing its band play during a marching band competition. He said he was struck by the band's size and skill -- 鈥渢he quality of the sound and how loud it was was not something that you get every day."聽
Benedict鈥檚 interest in music started in elementary school, when his class at Thomas took a field trip to Northern Arizona University to hear the symphonic band play. He remembered watching the timpani player, and when he joined band in sixth grade, he decided to learn percussion. He鈥檚 been a percussionist since, playing football games and band competitions with the marching band in the fall and performing on stage with the concert band.
He said he spends around 13 hours a week practicing for band in addition to playing in games and all-day competitions.
CIT is a three-year program combining engineering with the honors classes for more traditional high school science subjects of physics and chemistry. Each class has a final project requiring real-world application of what the students have learned throughout the year, such as collecting data on a field trip to Six Flags and launching rockets. The third-year class focuses on individual projects, with students completing a capstone of their choosing during the second semester.
Benedict鈥檚 final project for CIT III connected his two areas of interest. Through a process of trial and error that took until the last day available, he created a working snare drum.
He started with a related mini capstone at the end of the previous semester, making a drum pad used to muffle the noise of the drum during practice. For the full capstone, Benedict began by figuring out how to make a cylindrical shell (the base of the drum), testing out different methods to do so with wood and plexiglass before deciding to use a cardboard device used to lay concrete.
He then 3D printed a segmented rim to attach the two drumheads to the shell without puncturing them, and used beads strung on a wire for the snare -- which creates the snare drum鈥檚 signature sound.
The project also included research into the science behind the project鈥檚 topic, so Benedict learned about drum acoustics, why certain materials are used and how differences in each of the parts that make up a drum can change the sounds. He submitted a research paper and demonstrated his finished instrument as part of the capstone as well.
CIT teacher Dave Tessmer was among those Benedict said he鈥檇 enjoyed learning from during his time in high school. He said Tessmer, along with music director Karen Vanora, chemistry teacher Amanda Harrison and English teacher Terry Wilson, were notable for their knowledge and passion for their subject and connection with students.
Outside of school and band-related activities, Benedict has spent time volunteering.
He is a member of the National Honor Society and helps with the school鈥檚 annual penny wars fundraiser for the Leukemia Foundation as well as other food and clothing drives organized by NHS. With his family members, he volunteers at the Celtic Festival put on by the Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Festival each summer.
He鈥檚 also volunteered in the concession stands for JV games for over a decade, first starting to help out when his two older brothers were playing football. Recently, band members have begun working in the concession stand as a fundraiser to support the band program.聽