Spencer Sherwood marches to the beat of his own drum, you could say. In fact, a lot of people march to the beat of his drum.

That's just part of his job in the percussion line at Athens Drive High School, where Spencer is a junior. But the drums he and his fellow percussionists beat on the field are showing their age. Some, in fact, are older than the students who use them.

"I love this band," he said. "It's my turn to give back to something that's meant so much to me and opened so many doors to me so far."

So he sent a message to the Blue Coats, a member band of Drum Corps International ("Marching Music's Major League") that uses top-of-the-line instruments from its sponsors, then sells the used equipment at a low price to school bands. After a while - just when Spencer had sort of given up on the idea - he heard back, and a deal was put on the table.

For $18,500 (or possibly less, after some negotiations), the Athens Drive marching band can buy 21 gently used drums, including snares, bass drums and quads, and brand-new stands, carriers and cases to help ensure the new drums are taken care at a level the school hasn't previously been able to afford. For the next year, Spencer is helping to lead an effort to raise the money for the new equipment, and he's already put his money - $3,000 from his own pocket - where his mouth is.

He inherited the money from his grandmother, and he thought about her when he decided to put it toward his school's new drums. After she died, he watched a family video from a Christmas when he gave her a music box.

"She said, 'Oh, you know how I love things that play music,' " Spencer recalled. "... I was like, what better way to spend my $3,000 than to do something that's going to profit kids for 20 more years? It just seemed like a good idea. ... Three-thousand dollars for this is just more meaningful to me than just buying stuff over time."

And that's just the kind of guy Spencer is, said Jerry Markoch, band director at Athens Drive High School.

"What probably distinguishes him is he's got such a big heart," said Markoch. "He cares deeply about everything he does in a very sincere way. He commits fully to what he's behind. Everybody likes him. There's a sensitivity and a goodness behind his eyes."

Markoch said it's unusual for a student to lead such an ambitious fundraising effort, "but it may take something unusual sometimes in a tight economy to really lift us, to motivate so many people to go after something."

Recently, members of the Athens Drive High band performed at the Cary Whole Foods as the store held a "5% Day," giving 5 percent of the day's profits to the organization. And Spencer hopes to hold more fundraisers in the coming months to get closer to the goal.

"I'm not going to say it's easy or it's going to be cheap, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes, even if it's just by myself, to get these drums for the school," he said.