Hats off to new Franklin High School Band Director Ricky Edwards, who in just a few weeks doubled the size of the school band.

When Edwards, a graduate of Delaware State University in Dover, arrived in Franklin on Aug. 10, he had a total of 14 students in the marching band. That included the girls in the auxiliary units — majorettes, flags and dancers.

As of last week, the band had grown to 35 members for its home football debut, in which the Broncos crushed Northampton 53-0.

Edwards hopes to continue building the marching band, using programs in the elementary and middle schools as a foundation.

Playing in the marching band can be a lot of fun. Parents should encourage their children to play an instrument. Buying an instrument can be costly, but used ones are available. The rewards can be plenty.

Students involved in school activities tend to get better grades because practices mean budgeting their time for homework.

There’s also a sense of accomplishment by participating in something, where you start from scratch and work to produce a halftime show for the community.

There have been a number of studies done on the effect of music on academic development, according to the website childrenmusicworkshop.com. Studies show that high school music students have higher grade-point averages than non-music students in the same school.

According to the website, at Mission Viejo High School in Southern California in 1981, the overall grade-point average of music students was 3.59 and for non-music students the overall grade point average was 2.91. This same study also found that 16 percent of the music students had a 4.0 overall grade-point average and only 5 percent of the non-music students had a 4.0 overall grade-point average.

So if you’re considering involving your student in the band, now’s the time.