Ogden school embraces its origins with bagpipe band


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OGDEN — Most teachers have one primary goal: a wish to inspire.

"Really started with my high school choir teacher," said Ben Lomond High School's Band Director KC McMillan.

Inspiration from his teacher led McMillan through college and beyond. He said it's what brought him to his current role at Ben Lomond High — a school that almost went by a different name.

"When the school was originally being built in 1956, they were going to name it East Ogden High," he said. "And there was already an Ogden High. So they just decided to name it after the mountain to the north, which is pretty prominent, Ben Lomond Peak, which is named after Ben Lomond Peak in Scotland, from the Scottish settlers."

The school's students and staff embraced the name.

"Cause we're the Scots!" MacMillan said, with a hint of pride.

It's a name that inspired a tradition that made him realize this was the place to be.

"When I heard this job was available, I was like 'Sweet! Get to run a bagpipe band!'" McMillan said.

The high school has had its own student bagpipe band since the 1970s, which is something of a rarity, McMillian said.

"There's not very many," he said. "There's two in Utah, there's maybe like three in California."

McMillan called it somewhat "quirky," and part of that reason may be because the bagpipes aren't easy to learn.

"You use as much air as a tuba, but you try and blow it in a little pipe and put it in a bag," he said.

A student plays the bagpipes at Ben Lomond High School. (Photo: Ray Boone)
A student plays the bagpipes at Ben Lomond High School. (Photo: Ray Boone)

But there's a reason his students were drawn to this unique instrument.

"Every time I've heard bagpipes, it's been, they strike and they start to play, and I'm just like, my heart beats faster," said Joseph Richey, a student at Ben Lomond. "I always just feel this burning pride, even though I have no Scottish blood in me at all."

But his band director does.

"Last name's McMillan, so family's from Scotland," McMillan said. "We go to all the Scottish events, we wear kilts, and I love to do this!"

Although there's already a decent number trying their hand at the bagpipes, McMillan's doing his best to get even more kids involved.

"We've done a good job in the past few years of getting out in the community and showing that this is cool to do," he said. "Look at the drums, look at the pipes, kids love it. And this year, I've actually had a lot more kids coming to me, like, 'Hey, can I get music, can I get a chanter, I want to play next year."

The bagpipe band marches through the school. (Photo: Ray Boone)
The bagpipe band marches through the school. (Photo: Ray Boone)

While his pride in the bagpipes is evident, McMillan's just as proud of the fact that he has virtually nothing to do with Ben Lomond's bagpipe band at all.

"I came in, thinking, 'Ok, I'm going to have to run everything," he said. "But the previous director, he had just set it up that there's student leaders. They're chosen from the previous year. As soon as they come in, they start running the band, they start running all the gigs that we do."

And one of their most prominent "gigs" doesn't even involve leaving the building. Once a week, the entire band marches through the halls of Ben Lomond High.

"At the end of the day, they'll go out and play and everyone just stops and listens and watches," McMillan said. "They just love the pipes."

McMillan's main goal is to inspire students, just as he was inspired — and for him, that also involves keeping his high school's heritage alive.

"What makes bagpipes special to me is culture," he said. "It's so unique. It's so loud. It's so proud. For me, it buoys me up and livens me, and when a whole band plays, it's thrilling."

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