For Southern Lee High School Band Director Angela Matthews, the program’s latest statewide recognition is about much more than performances, ratings or trophies.
It is about students recognizing what they are capable of accomplishing.
The Southern Lee High School Band has been named a Program of Distinction for the 2025-2026 school year by the North Carolina Bandmasters Association, recognizing the program’s musical excellence, artistry, and community leadership.
“I think what is so cool about this award is that it acknowledges all of the hard work our students have put in over the years,” Matthews said. “It really is how much the students are getting out into the community and how much they are achieving in spite of whatever obstacles there may be.”
Those opportunities were plentiful during an especially memorable 2025-2026 school year.
Southern Lee musicians performed at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh, while several students earned spots in All-District Band and others qualified to audition for All-State honors.
“This year in particular we did a lot of new things,” Matthews said. “Any opportunities that I could get for our kids to go out and play, we took advantage of them. It really was an exceptional year.”
The recognition is also meaningful because of the journey the Cavalier band program has taken to reach this point.
During Matthews’ nine years at Southern Lee, the program was growing before the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted that momentum. Since then, students and staff have steadily rebuilt.
“We started growing our program and then COVID hit. It really almost wiped us out,” Matthews signed. “But we’ve slowly started building back. The quality of the program has gone up, even when the numbers haven’t necessarily grown at times.”
That growth in quality is reflected not only in performances and honors, but also in the confidence that Matthews sees developing in her students.
She often works with students who arrive having never played an instrument and who are unsure whether music is something they can master. Watching those students discover their abilities is one of the most rewarding parts of her work.
“I love seeing students achieve things that they didn’t think they could do,” Matthews smiled. “Sometimes, I’ll get students started off that haven’t ever played an instrument. They don’t think they can do it, and then they do amazing things. As a group they do amazing things.”
That growth is fueled by a culture in which students take responsibility, not only for their own development, but for one another.
“They all help each other, they all work with each other,” Matthews explained. “I think that is really what makes this program exceptional.”
The North Carolina Bandmasters Association highlighted that same commitment in announcing the Program of Distinction designation, praising the countless hours invested by students and directors through rehearsals, performances, and preparation.
“An achievement of this caliber does not happen by chance,” the organization wrote in its recognition of the program. “It is the direct result of immense time, dedication, unwavering passion, and tireless hard work invested by each of you.”
For Matthews, perhaps the clearest evidence of that work can be seen in the way students now carry themselves on campus.
“There were years that we didn’t win very much and the kids would get down on themselves,” she said. “Now, the kids really hold their heads high, you can see how proud they are.”
Even as a smaller band program, Matthews said her students have learned that the size of the group does not define what they can accomplish. “They know that they can stand toe-to-toe with bands from anywhere,” she said. “That is really exciting and it makes me proud to know that they have such a strong foundation for when they go to college.
The Program of Distinction honor celebrates an exceptional year for Southern Lee, but it also represents something built over time – a program that has weathered setbacks, rebuilt its confidence and continued creating opportunities for students to discover just how much they can achieve.