Spirit Checks Earned by Armwood and Brandon High Schools

Armwood on the home field showed a spectacular last-minute victory in the District 4A semifinals, propelling the Hawks to the state finals Dec. 18 in Orlando.

But on that same field a week before the gut-wrenching Dec. 10 contest against Dwyer, it was the Armwood High School Hawk Pride Band, at the Dec. 3 faceoff against Charlotte, that took home the money thanks to its active participation in the St. Petersburg Times "Half-Time High School Spirit Contest."

With more than 10,000 online votes cast on behalf of Armwood High, the highly active marching band took home the prize for Division I competition. Its cross-town rival, the Brandon Eagles High School Marching Band, had earned the award in Division II, with more than 29,000 votes cast online, according to St. Pete Times officials.

"It's the first time we ran the contest," said Grace Posada, Hillsborough and East Central Pasco marketing manager for the St. Petersburg Times publishing company.

The contest, she added, was about "high school engagement and prep sports," to support "the community and the band" and "to be local," she said.

In all, 17 high schools participated, including schools from Land O' Lakes, Tarpon Springs, Seminole, Gulf, Pasco, Hernando, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. More than 79,000 votes were cast overall, Posada said.

Each of the Greater Brandon teams earned a $1,000 check for their collective 39,000 online votes, or roughly 50 percent of the overall total.