DALLAS – Even before sunrise, hundreds of Oak Cliff teens gathered on a grassy playing field to do what they love – play music.
The Adamson High School Leopard band members are passionate, full of school spirit, and they love music.
In the last six years, the band has grown from 12 students to 200. Dallas ISD's budget can't keep up.
When you look closely you'll notice, from the brass to the drums, many of the instruments are held together by duct tape.
"The tuning isn't right, the sound quality isn't as well as we want it to be," said sophomore percussionist Jazzlyn Neria.
Neria's snare drum, like many of the band's instruments, is old and tough to tune.
"The tape is falling off again. I taped it like two times," said Neria, tugging at duct tape on her drum's harness.
The harness is made for a different type of drum. But for now, it's all the band has to work with.
Despite the challenges, the band continues to grow each year, thanks to band director Chris Green. He has helped foster a sense of pride and family since he took the helm in 2009.
"We give everybody a chance. There's a place for every kind of kid, every kind of background," said Green, who took the helm in 2009.
Most of these teens come from lower-income communities. Their misfit instruments, often throw-aways from other schools, make it hard to compete.
"At our championships, the right side of my harness fell off right before we were about to perform," said junior assistant drum major Carmen Galicia. "The harness wasn't even my size. I got bruises."
Every day the Leopards don't just focus on how they look or even how they sound. They focus on pushing through challenges to be the best they can be at doing what they love.
"They see what's out there, they go to contests with schools from all over the state and country," said Green. "They see what everybody else is working with and they want to know why we can't."
That's why Green entered a nationwide online grant contest, through Farmers Insurance, to help level the playing field. The top two finalists in each region win a $100,000 grant that could help Adamson buy new instruments.
Adamson is one of five finalists in the central region, and they can't win without public support.
As of Tuesday Adamson was in third place, but they're hoping to edge their way into a win.
"I told the kids that either next week we're going to be celebrating $100,000 and talking about how to spend it, or we're going to Home Depot to get some more duct tape," said Green.
You can vote online every day through Oct. 31 here.
