The Military Marching Band tied for third place in the UIL State Military Class Marching Band Contest.
“It is a tremendous honor for any program to compete at the state level for UIL,” band director Brian Best said. “Knowing that my band students were selected to participate is a great feeling and exciting for us all. Our band students put in countless hours to get to that point, and it was the greatest feeling for them to know that their hard work finally paid off in the end.”
The band went to the UIL Region Marching Contest in early October, where they earned a place at state. The day before the state competition, band students were given a sendoff and students showed up all around Main Street to show their appreciation.
“It was a very exciting yet nerve-wracking feeling to make it to state and then finals.” sophomore and clarinet player A’aryah Franklin said.
At state, the students performed at 3 p.m. and were selected to perform again for finals that night. After performing at finals they awaited their results while other schools performed. The arena was opened to all bands who participated in finals so the band members were able to make connections with other schools.
“My favorite thing about state was being able to interact with Kingwood’s band before we got our results,” Franklin said. “I met a lot of cool people and had a blast.”
It was announced originally that the band placed fourth in the competition but they found out that they tied for third place with Longview High School.
“When they called our name, I was so excited because our hard work had paid off but I knew our work still wasn’t done.” Franklin said.
Last year lightning strikes would disrupt most of the band’s practices. This year however, the intense heat has caused trouble for them, halting their regular schedule. They have had to move their practice times later in the evening to beat the heat.
“We are very grateful for our band students and our band families who were patient with us and flexible with their schedules as we navigated a record-breaking heat wave” Best said. “Weather is always a variable in any outdoor activity like marching band, and it’s all a part of the competition that we have to overcome as a program.”
“The hardest part about being a band director is navigating a large band program of over 190+ students and their individual needs to create a unified performance on the field. Managing a program of this size can be a really big challenge for anyone – it can be a lot. However, the fact that we have great staff, a hard-working leadership team, excellent administration, and amazing band students who are really smart and skilled at time management and problem-solving makes the job so much easier.”
