OKEECHOBEE- Before the Okeechobee High School Brahman Band heads to the state championships, they’re performing their Superior-rated show for free at OHS as a send-off.

The band will perform its show, "1001," at a free community send-off on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. at Brahman Field. Concessions will be available, and donations to the band are appreciated.

The performance is a chance for families, friends and neighbors to see up close the talent, hard work and countless hours the students have poured into this year's production, and to show them Okeechobee is behind them before they compete for a state title.

The Brahman Band arrives at Thursday's send-off on the heels of one of its best competitive showings.

At the FFCC Outdoor competition at Martin County High School in Stuart on Oct. 10, the band earned a 77.350, the second-highest score of the day, and swept all five caption awards in its class: Best General Effect, Best Music, Best Visual, Best Color Guard and Best Percussion. Fifteen bands performed across six classes, and only 6A winner Jupiter High School scored higher, with an 81.125. St. Lucie West Centennial High School, the only other band in 5A, finished second in the class with a 63.788.

FFCC Outdoor is the marching band circuit run by the Florida Federation of Colorguards Circuit. Bands are scored on a 100-point scale by a panel of judges, each covering one area of the performance.

Okeechobee's strongest marks came in general effect, which measures how well a show connects with its audience. The band scored 24.15 of a possible 30 there, added 23.10 of 30 in music and 14.75 of 20 in visual. The color guard contributed 7.45 of 10.

The percussion section scored 7.90 of 10, second only to Jupiter's 8.10 among all 15 bands.

That percussion score carries special weight this year. The section is competing without its instructor, Luis Rivera, who died in a car crash in August.

Rivera grew up in Okeechobee and came to band late. He joined in eighth grade at Osceola Middle School under Chris Bowen, when most students start in fifth or sixth grade. He went on to play percussion all four years at Okeechobee High School under Band Director Clint LaFlam, growing from a beginner into one of the program's student leaders.

LaFlam has said the program's standard is simple: "be better than you were yesterday." He asks students to focus on what they can control, their attitude and effort.

This season, that standard carries the memory of the instructor who helped teach it. For those who want to honor Rivera, his friends and family offer three words: Love like Luis.