Student ensures the band plays on as she preps for graduation

As she prepares to enter the adult world, Paige Baggen is leaving behind a noted legacy at Wrangell High School.

The 17-year-old is working with fifth-grade band students, specifically the clarinet players, to learn a song for this year's spring concert. Not only is it her senior project but she's doing it out of a love for music.

Baggen has been playing music since she was in kindergarten, when Tasha Morse began teaching her to play. She's played clarinet since the fifth grade, so she knows the frustrations that can come with trying to learn something new.

"It's like learning how to ride a bike: It's hard to figure out. It's hard to explain to someone how to do it because you just have to practice until you get it," she said.

Many of the students have broken instruments, so it can be a frustrating process, Baggen said, especially when they don't sound like they think they should, at which point the senior student encourages the elementary kids to play on.

"They're pretty good. They're super good kids," she said. "It's hard to convince them to keep going. It's not their fault sometimes when they're struggling."

Morse said Baggen has the temperament to encourage and lead other students, a trait she's exhibited since she was a fifth grader.

"She's been a leader since she's been in fifth grade," Morse said. "She was always like, 'Come on, guys! We can do this! It's all right. It's hard but we can do it!' She's always cheered on her own class, now she's here cheering on the fifth graders to kind of keep it going."

Though Baggen admits the only thing she'll miss about school is band, she has been a part of some notable projects during her school years. She's attended regionals, playing with other school bands, three times. She's auditioned for and gone to Honors Fest three out of her four years of high school. The only year she didn't go was because the event was canceled due to COVID-19.

She was also part of the team that created the Vans shoes that were in the top five schools selected by the Vans Custom Culture nationwide contest in 2022. Wrangell High School's placement in the contest won its art department $15,000.

Art and music are such a part of Baggen's life that she plans to continue both after graduation, especially art.

"I would love to go into the animation industry, visual development or concept art," she said. "Working at Pixar would be the dream. ... On YouTube is where I realized people could make almost anything."

Morse said she'll definitely miss her lifelong student and her personality.

"She brings the pep. She brings the spirit. She's good to be around," Morse said. "She's good with the kids. When she's not here, the few times she's missed for sickness or whatever, the kids are like, 'Where's Paige? Where is she? Where is she?'"

If Baggen is able to attend California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita, California, the school she's been accepted to, she would seek out opportunities to play music with community bands if time allows.

No matter what she ends up doing, she knows it will be using her imagination.

"If I can work in a field where I can be creative, have fun and use my skills, then I'd be happy," she said.