truggling to Find the One

It’s been difficult for the band to find a director to lead them through the years.

BY BRANDON MUDD AND EMILY RICHARDSON

This season was the fastest the band and guard had their show on the field since the current students have been a part of the program.

During the third year of the seniors’ high school career, the band was under the direction of Chris Spivey. Due to the quick rise of COVID-19 cases in 2020, the band was heavily restricted for safety. A significant number of band members don’t consider it to be a true marching season. “It was a lot less of a time commitment because there wasn’t as much we could do with COVID-19 and masks and all of that stuff. Practices looked a lot different,” senior Mason Roach said. The band was unable to compete or travel to see other groups with the school all due to COVID-19. Along with being restricted from traveling and competing, the band members didn’t get to march at all. It was solely music based for the 2020 season.

All of the band classes were different during the school year for students due to COVID-19 as well. School being online for the majority of the year made it harder for students to get to know Spivey and have a normal band experience. Like others, Spivey had high expectations for the band but didn’t push too hard because of the circumstances.

Currently, the band is directed by Jason Novak. Students are finally beginning to feel at ease with how the future of the band program will look under his guide. “He basically thinks marching band should be fun, but he also challenges us to work at it,” Braden said. Novak has begun to put things back together in a way that the students haven’t had in the four years of changes.

Consistency might finally be on the way.

The band hasn’t had a consistent band director for the last four years.

Each director offered a unique take on how to lead the band and color guard. While this could be viewed as a positive thing, most marching band members point to the downsides of this experience. As the end of this year approaches, there is anxiety around whether the program will maintain its current director or if he will continue this cycle of band directors leaving.

The first director that led the marching band was Trevor Ervin in 2018. “He was very hardcore. Most people described his way of teaching as a drill sergeant,” junior Skylar Braden said. Despite being hardcore, most people also recognized his win streak. With Ervin, the band achieved more accomplishments than any other year.

The second director, Jacqueline Brengelman, led the band in 2019. “Personally, I think that year we learned everything faster than the previous year,” senior Diego Gonzalez Soto said.

One of the big challenges that came with the change of directors is the fact that the band and guard didn’t know what to expect each season. “And for the people that stayed, I think that like kills motivation a bit,” senior Vice Haysley said. Others pointed out that the previously large program was seeming to lose members due to the frequent change in directors. “A lot of people I know quit the band because they just couldn’t stay with so many band directors changing,” junior Natalie McGarry said. This is something that caused the band program as a whole to take a major hit.

While many band and guard members have found positives to all of the changes of the last four years, a majority of members had a hard time. “I just think it was kind of a let down seeing all these people who I thought were committed just leave,” Haysley said. This was a big contributor to the demotivation among many of the band members.

“You’re always expecting someone to just leave and you’ll have to start all over again,” junior Kendall McGarry said. This is a fear held by many of the members, and most really feel that it’s a big contributor to why. Despite this, it’s likely that the band will finally get the consistency in directors they’ve wanted. “I’ve really enjoyed this season, and I think this is going to be the last job I have until I retire in seventeen years,” Novak said. It seems like the band has finally found their director.