Southwest Winds Tours Louisiana Published March 19, 2009 By SrA Lenora French 37TRW/MD Lafayette, LA -- Southwest Winds, the woodwind quintet from the USAF Band of the West, recently spent a week touring the Acadiana region of Louisiana playing for students at area schools in support of Music in Our Schools month. Since 1985, March has been designated by the National Association for Music Education as a month long celebration of music in the schools. Music in Our Schools Month was created to raise awareness of the importance of music education for children and an opportunity for music teachers to bring their programs to the attention of the schools and community, displaying the benefits that music education brings to students. The theme of the 2009 Music in Our Schools Month is "Music! Just Imagine..." Southwest Winds put together a program full of imagination possibilities. In addition to playing some blues, jazz and even a march arranged for woodwind quintet, the group performed the Winnie-the-Pooh Suite by Gwyn Parry-Jones, which combined music and literature. SSgt Sandi Wellman even brought along a stuffed Winnie the Pooh bear that joined the group on stage for the piece. The group also performed a suite of movements about frogs, where each instrument portrayed a different insect and the flute portrayed the frog. The group held question and answer sessions at every school, giving students a chance to ask questions about anything from music and instruments to what the life of an Air Force musician is like. Southwest Winds was successful in spreading the Air Force message to nearly 600 elementary, middle school, high school and college students in Louisiana.