 Pike Central High School is sending their first percussionist to perform in the KMEA All-State Orchestra. Thomas Smith has secured his place in the ensemble as the second chair percussionist and will soon be performing with other accomplished students from around the state. Mountaintop News spoke with Smith to hear his thoughts. I'm very confident in myself because I've been trained very well. And I'm very excited to play for orchestra because I've never done that before. I've never even seen one. So it's very eye-opening, really awesome. We're all here at Pike Central. We love each other so much. We're a family. We're not just friends hanging out. We're a family. Those are my brothers and sisters in there. And we all love each other and we encourage each other all the time. Absolutely, because when you get put in that situation, you become the best person you can be. Because you're striving for excellence and you're competing for everybody else to show them that you will earn that spot. So when you come out, you become more aware and you learn things and you share them with people. It's awesome. I've been encouraged by everybody I've come across. Whether that be Mr. Johnson, Mr. Thacker or any of my bandmates or my parents or friends, everybody encourages me and I love that and everybody needs that. He can do it at J&M Custom. Director of bands Jason Johnson praises Smith for his abilities. He says the other band members at Pike Central are inspired by his confidence. Yeah, in the history of Pike County Central High School, Thomas is the very first percussionist to ever make an all-state ensemble. We keep a record of that and it's been over 30 years now and he is the only percussionist ever achieved at this high of the level. Yeah, Thomas has already been a great motivator behind our percussion section here at Pike Central giving lessons and motivating other students to achieve at their highest level. Many of our percussionists have made all county and all district and achieved at very high levels because of Thomas' leadership. What he brings back from the all-state level, I'm sure, will just continue to foster those relationships and to build what we have started here at Pike Central. Reporting for Mountain Top News, I'm Nick Collum.