The Little Hawk

Page 7

October 12, 2023

THE LITTLE HAWK

THELITTLEHAWK.COM

7 A&E

CLOCKWISE: Chloe McKay ‘24 claps her hands during the halftime show. Members of the marching band take the field at the Battle for the Boot game. Janie Owens ‘25 conducts during the halftime show.Edward Kenyon ‘24 conducts the band in the stands after a touchdown during the City vs West game. PHOTOS BY MOLLY SAVAGE

BAND

New Drum Majors march on Edward Kenyon, Chloe McKay, and Janie Owens take the field By Esther Puderbaugh

No football atmosphere is complete without the boom of a marching band. For City, this year brings three new student leaders of the band, also called drum majors. According to Drum Major Chloe McKay ‘24, a drum major’s main role is to help lead the members of the marching band. “I have to be a leader in the band and try and connect the directors to the kids,” McKay said. On the day-to-day, drum majors help lead the band class. “It’s pretty much the highest student leadership position you could have,” said Janie Owens ‘25, another of the three drum majors. “Every morning [we] have to go and have to set up [the] ladders, get the speakers [and] the metronome, and get all the equipment out on the field. [In terms of leadership,] it’s like the band directors [then] and the drum majors [and then] the BLT which is the Band Leadership Team (section leaders).” On Friday game nights at Bates Field, however, the role and responsibilities of a drum major is more involved. “Before pregame (when the band comes out onto the field and plays before the game), we have practice [and] we usually practice about an hour before we go out. We start with

pregame [which includes] the freshmen and then after that, we will move on to halftime show with just the sophomores through seniors,” said Head Drum Major Edward Kenyon ‘24. “So [our job on Fridays is] just running through anything that we need to work on and just practicing for the performance. Once we get down to the field, we set up off field for our pregame show. Pregame is pretty simple. Halftime is where the real marching comes out. And so we [also] conduct through the show.” McKay, Owens, and Kenyon attended a camp for drum majors over the summer to learn more about their roles. One of the topics covered was learning more about the sport of football. “[We] went to a drum major camp and one of the things we went through was football management. And when I read that on the [schedule], I was like ‘what is this?’ And they explained what football was and when you can play so you don’t get penalties,” McKay said. “I have to like pay attention during the football games so I know when we’re allowed to play [so we don’t] get penalties.” For Owens, her goal of eventually being a drum major was inspired by friends of hers who had held the position before her. “I always thought that, especially when I was an under-

classmen, being a drum major would be really cool,” Owens said. “I have two friends, Eva Stadtlander (‘22) and Ella Fast (‘23), who were drum majors. Definitely I aspire to be like them.” Owens’ love of marching band also inspired her to want to become a drum major. “I think band is a unique community because there’s a community in band that you don’t really find on sports teams because in band everybody does it because they enjoy it,” said Owens. “They don’t do it for the competitive aspect or to compete. In marching band, you’re all working towards learning your show [and] getting mastery of your show.” According to McKay, being a drum major is special to her because it has helped her to get out of her comfort zone. “I had really bad performance and anxiety. To be the person that people have to look at, that’s a big change. And it’s been very nerve wracking, but I think it’s been good for me to get out of my comfort zone like that.” Kenyon’s favorite memory of being a drum major so far is the volume of the band at the first home game this year against Joliet Catholic. “It was really cool to see how we didn’t march [or] anything but the music was just blasting in my face,” Kenyon said.


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Articles inside

Golfers win MVC Valley Conference Championship

2min
page 19

MIND OVER MATTER This fall, star City High football seniors came down with season-altering injuries that changed the course of the season

2min
page 18

KingSton Swayzer

1min
page 17

TO WATCH Maeve Obermueller

1min
page 17

FRESHMEN Cael

3min
page 16

LH Album Review: GUTS

4min
page 15

Our 2023 MTV VMAs best dressed

3min
pages 14-15

Twitches

1min
page 13

a new racy lesbian comedy film reinvents the genre

1min
page 13

Asteroid City A love letter to Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City

1min
page 13

TO PARK OR NOT TO PARK

3min
page 12

GOALS SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE

2min
page 11

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

2min
pages 10-11

Jazz Band kicks off with auditions

1min
page 9

Show choirs begin rehearsals

1min
page 8

Fall play to open November third

1min
page 8

New Drum Majors march on

2min
pages 7-8

HOMECOMING HIGHLIGHTS

1min
page 6

Spoked to cycle

2min
pages 5-6

Planning begins for shed project at first meeting

2min
page 5

United: MESU’s goals and plans

2min
page 4

Involvement for everyone

1min
page 4

City High calls for cell phone policy change

2min
pages 3-4

Seeking challenges beyond school math

2min
page 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

1min
pages 2-3

Spoked to cycle

0
page 1

City High administration enforces use of SmartPass for all students

3min
page 1
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