There are many new additions to the marching band this year, and they are ready to be loud and show their school spirit.
The marching band is proud to announce that they have started the school year with a new director, Micah Lee, who was the former music teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary.
“Yeah he’s super energetic and he knows how to be enthusiastic about it,”senior Drum major, Kassie Harman, said.”And I feel like part of that is him like, coming to the high school marching bands because he was working at TJ with like, fifth and fourth graders.”
Lee enjoys getting to know his students and being himself around them. He finds small things he can use to relate to students, and to make sure they understand what he says and expects.
“Well, the cool thing about connecting with students is being authentically yourself as a teacher,” Lee explained. “So for me, as you can see from my poster, I have this Mario Brothers thing. I like gaming, I like anime. I like those kinds of things. So those little points that I can use to create that relationship with the students.”
The new director has brought a few changes to the band. One of those being for the first time in many years the marching band has two drum majors. Harman, one of the drum majors, is proud to share this position with her partner, Caitlyn Winslett.
“We haven’t had two drum majors, I don’t think ever because it used to be an assistant drum major and the drum major, but now it’s two drum majors,” Harman said.“That’s why it was so important for me to have us both included because that’s something that we’re still working out and there’s a lot that goes into that.”
Slowly, the marching band has been able to come together as one. As they get used to the new changes, they are also able to make new bonds.
“I feel like the band has a new energy and we are still a little bit weary of it right now, but we’re working up to it,” Harman said.“And by, like the end of the season, we will be pretty much a brand new band because there’s so much that’s going on and changing.”
Their main goal is to get more than 120 students in the band. They are proud of everything they have been able to improve and hope to continue with it.
“We’re seeing a lot of connections between the band that we didn’t see before,” senior Drum Major Winslett said. ”Last year it was kind of you’re the flutes, and you’re the clarinets and you’re this but now it’s, we are the band.”
