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9/16/2022
By: Macy Mullin
Who really brings the excitement and enthusiasm at football games? What makes the crowd get on their feet and dance to the beat? EJHS 8th graders have been given the opportunity to join the high schoolers in performing their routine to show to the public. I decided to interview three 8th grade marches, Carly Beatty, Caroline Worden, and Frankie Allen, to see what it’s really like to be a member of the EHS Marching Mustangs.
I decided to start with Caroline Worden, a second trumpet. “ I march all around the field,” says Worden. But what does an 8th grader have to do to be in a marching band? “Show up to every practice and be dedicated.” says Worden.
When asked to describe what it is like on the field, practices specifically, Worden responded with, “Long, grueling, and fun, but tiring.” Being in a marching band is a very big responsibility, so how would an 8th grader decide that they would want to take on a challenge like the marching band? “The people seemed very nice and my mom and brother were in it and they had fun and I like playing my instrument.”
Watching a competitor band performing.
When asked about how she and the highschoolers are able to work together, Caroline says, “Very well. I love a lot of them like my brothers and sisters and we fight like brothers and sisters. But at the end of the day we know we love and accept each other.”
The 8th graders were asked to join the marching band in the summer, so how did they prepare over the summer? “We have three weeks that are fully taken up during summer break and then practices around summer are 4-5 hours and 3 each week and have gone to 3 hours 3 times a week not including extra activities by each section. The weeklong practices in the summer are 12 hours.”
Speaking of competitions, who are you most excited to compete against? “Our rivals are Western.” says Worden with much enthusiasm.”My trumpet family and the amazing staff who've been very patient in my learning experiences.” says Caroline when asked about what has made the band experience enjoyable.
“I think the main aspect is the mental part of it because if you aren’t mentally prepared, you might struggle. We also practice a lot, and don’t have many breaks.”
says Worden about how the band practices for competitions during the school year.
For my last question, I got a very insightful answer. When asked what advice Caroline had for future 8th graders offered this opportunity, she responded with,”Be prepared for it to be hard but REALLY fun and be prepared to work hard and put forth your best effort.” This interview was very informative and I had an amazing time talking with Ms. Worden.
My next interviewee was Cary Beatty. Ms. Beatty is a mellophone that describes the marching band as, “We dance a little and we play the ballet and there's different moods throughout the show.”
When asked why Ms. Beatty wanted to join the Marching Mustangs, she replied with, “Because my sister Nora was in the marching band and I watched her play and it sounded cool. Since I play in a band in middle school I want to do it in high school and have more practice, and all of the people are nice.”
But how do you actually join the band one might ask? “Just be in the band before but if you weren’t you can talk to Mr. Koehler.” Mr. Koehler is the band director of EJHS who is responsible for the 8th graders being able to take on this challenge, along with Mr. Wells, the EHS band director.
But the band doesn’t just compete, they also participate in entertaining the crowds at football games.
“For football games I get my hair done at home and then we warm up and walk on the field and have a great time.” There is a lot of material to go over and prepare before it is shown to people and performed at competitions.
The Band at the end of practice camp.
“ Practices are really hard and intense but really fun. I have terrible tan lines. I'm glad I can practice and get better.”
says Beatty about the band's practices.
The entire marching band had also practiced over the summer to perfect their performance. “We have been having practices all the time and we have been having basics which is pretty much a workout. We just go over and make everything perfect.”
“I feel glad I have older people to guide me. I can talk to Nora’s friends and feel comfortable and know what I'm doing and such.” says Ms. Beatty about working with her high school peer members throughout this year.
Having a common opinion as Ms. Worden, Western is again a rival that Ms. Beatty hopes to beat.
The EHS Band practicing their show.
Even after everything that she has done these last few months, Ms. Beatty says that there are certain things that have made her experience enjoyable.
“I really like all of my mellophone people and they are just upperclassmen that have just made my experience so much better.”
Putting a piece of 8th grade wisdom to the end of her interview, Carly Beatty would like to tell all future marching members, “Just listen to Wells and practice at home if needed. Don't get Wells mad, please.” Another insightful interview with a marching 8th grader.
Thank you Carly Beatty!
My final interview was with Frankie Allen, a member of the color guard. Frankie describes being in the Marching Band’s color guard as, “...doing a lot of dance and body movement in the show and we do visual effects in the marching band.”
“I wanted to join the color guard because I watched them perform “Life is Short” and I thought they were so beautiful and graceful and I wanted to be a part of something like that.” says Allen when asked how she became interested in the marching band. When asked about tryouts for the guard, Allen said, “We went to tryouts and had to learn the school song and be able to go through it successfully.”
A picture of the other bands performing.
And what are practices with the guard like? “Practices usually include dance class, tumbling, and cleaning and clarifying work.” Like the band members, the guard members have practiced over the summer as well, but how? “We usually just have an hour of dance, technique block, and drill. We do everything over and over again until we get it basically perfect.”
With competitions, many color guard members get ready together, so, what do they do? “I do my makeup and have someone do my hair, and we practice the school song on different tempos around 3-5 times.” All of the members of this interview have had the same opinion of their rival team, Western, and Ms. Allen is no different, and can’t wait to compete against them.
“The guard family, they are very good at taking care of one another and caring for everyone and making sure we all understand work.”
says Allen when asked about what made her experience in the color guard enjoyable.
My final question for Frankie was about passing on advice to future color guard members, here’s what she had to say. “Work hard and make sure you’re following directions from upperclassmen and staff. What great advice to end an interview!
I would like to thank all of the interviewees for participating and providing information for this article. At their last competition, the band won 1st place and got 4 trophies. With first overall, first visual effects, best music, and best audio, you can clearly see that the EHS Marching Mustangs are wonderful performers and take their responsibilities very seriously.
Thank you all so much for reading this article! I hope you all have a chance to see this performance live!
Contributor Bio:
Macy Mullin is a 14 year old girl who enjoys reading, spending time with important people in her life, and watching Star Wars and MARVEL movies
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