Detroit — The sounds of brass and woodwinds waft through the air each weekday afternoon at Cody High School, carrying a sense of school spirit that's been silent from the west side Detroit school for the past two decades.

With the help of a state grant and the tireless dedication of a Detroit public school graduate who returned to his hometown, the school's marching band program has been rebuilt from scratch this year.

Band director Damian Lyles , a Detroit native who grew up playing in the marching band at Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, had worked at the former Kettering and Cooley high schools in Detroit before moving to Florida to direct school bands in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Lakewood. He said he was considering several job opportunities last year when he decided to

See Full Page