Personal Narrative: Sherwood High School Football Team

The Marching Band program of the Greece Central School District (GCSD) provides every child with the opportunity to perform and compete in a unique way. Through the acquisition of specific knowledge, skills and the development of appropriate disciplines, these experiences

It was Sunday, November 13th of 2015. My co-drum major and I, Darby MacAdams excitedly awaited to lead our band through the gate in to Hershey Stadium. This was our championship performance, and our last performance as members of the band. We lead the band onto the turf field and waited for the magic words from the speakers. “Drum majors, Darby MacAdams and Casey McMullen, is the band ready?” After the announcement, we gave our salute and began our performance for a crowd of

Marching season is one of my favorite parts of the school year. With marching season comes homecoming and during the homecoming game the band has to sit on the ground bleachers because of the amount of people who come to that game compared to the other games. We were excited for the game because we were about to present how hard we had worked in preparation to make everything look and sound good.

“And your second place band is…” The room was silent enough to hear the racing hearts of the hundreds of performers. Each had poured his heart out on the field. The silence was deafening, and the hearts were no longer racing. Instead, it felt as if they had momentarily stopped. Each student of the marching band grasped another student’s sweaty and shaky hands. The pause felt like centuries, seeing as the next word determined the results of months of hard work. The announcer was about to reveal who had reached the award of state champion. Of course, performing at the state level was rewarding enough, but students were about to learn if they could go home with the title of 2014 state champions.

From marching in the scorching hot summer to playing under the Friday night lights, band is a major part of my life. Reflecting on my school career, being in band is my most meaningful commitment because of the relationships I’ve made.

Chilly early mornings, where the only perk of waking up at five a.m. is getting to see the beautiful sunrises. The smell of turf mixed with sweat. The sounds of laughter, horns bleating, and drums booming ringing through the air. One amazing word comes to mind when I think of these things- band. Whether it’s a Saturday competition, long class periods dedicated to rehearsal, or Friday night football games, band has never ceased to be a source of enjoyment for me. Over the years, it has become an undeniable piece of my identity; something that I could not possibly function without.

Throughout the past year, the team had helped me through each and every situation that I encountered during my freshman year. I experienced so many great things with all of them. Just some performances included the Touch of Dutch Parade, a Tarzan play, all the football games, and even the

In every cilché high school drama movie, the marching band is depicted as dull and its students are often characterized as outcasts. Being a naive middle schooler who has seen several of these types of movies, I believed every word of it for the longest time. Despite this stigma I had, I still joined our school’s marching band program, and every opinion I had built up about marching band completely changed within a single year. I now know that the decision I made to join marching band completely changed how I would experience high school.

At my high school, the highlight of a week is going in the stands with your friends and watching a football game. That, however, is not the case for just over three hundred kids. We come from sports practices, piano lesson, or any other daily activity to interrupt our Friday from 6-11 to entertain a group of bored adults for ten glorious minutes. We all complain over a number of miniscule issues, but at the end of the year, most of us return to the same old grind that haunted us the year before. Before you is the life of a marching band member.

The high powered lights reflected on the players’ metalic blue jerseys and the crisp chill in the air alerted the fans that fall is almost here indicating that it is time for football season.The stands are filled with cheering students, fans, family, and alumni. The first home football game consisted of amazing performances from the band, the Pink Panthers, and had many generous promotions from the team’s sponsors.

Sitting in a cramped football stadium with bands who vary across the state, the crowd becomes hushed as the band members watch their beloved field commanders and seniors lined across the field. Silence remains until a voice booms from the overhead speakers. Each band listens carefully for their name, along with their rating. Upon hearing the results, the students jump and yell with joy, or pout and believe they deserve better. Band competitions contain memories of the dubious ratings received, massive opportunities within the competition, and the long practices behind the performance.

Now serving as the Flute Section Leader, I reflect over the past four years in band; thankful for all the experiences and friends I have made. As a senior who will soon leave the nest to allow room for the younger wide eyed and unaware freshmen, my departure is bittersweet. Bitter due to the fact that I have to leave, sweet because of memories I have made. My words of wisdom to the incoming freshman are: accept the challenge, make friends, and don’t give

we have an exciting new opportunity for our 7th and 8th grade band students. They are invited to perform with the high school band at a home football game. please see the details below. this event is required unless i receive a written note from a parent.

This marching season has been immensely successful. I could not be more proud of myself, my section and the band for growing and rebuilding the Bloomington High School’s Marching Raider’s program.

They usually have the parade on Thursday or Friday depending on how much time, they have but either way the parade is great. All the teams, clubs, and everything the school has to offer in the parade, from the marching band to the JROTC program. It starts with the burning red paint job, screaming sirens, and the array of red and blue flashing lights of the fire trucks. Then usually the band comes through next, seeing the sea of purple band players and to hear the school song echo down the old highway really just pumps everyone up. After that, it is the different sports trying to see who could be the loudest, (usually the football team) but the teams just go back and forth trying to see who the loudest was. Then it gets to the JROTC cadets and they are trying to see who the loudest was in the program, the commanders of each platoon is screaming their heads off to make them the loudest. Their faces red from screaming their lungs out, and the sweat rolling down their face. At the front of the formation, we have an array of flags from the United States Flag all the way down to our JROTC flag. The bold red, white, and blue flowing gently in the wind. The bright yellow and red of the New Mexico, the brown of the Navajo nation, and the grey and red of the