Marching into a new era

Iola High School and Iola Middle School band students took a trip to St. Louis to see the Bands of America marching band competition. The goal was to have a new experience and ask students if they are ready to step up and compete in similar events.

By

News

November 7, 2022 - 1:59 PM

Iola High School and Iola Middle School band students pose for a photo during a trip to St. Louis to watch the Bands of America high school marching band competition. Courtesy photo

If you’re going to step outside your comfort zone, sometimes it helps to step outside your environment.

Iola middle and high school band students recently returned from a trip to St. Louis, where they watched marching bands compete on a national stage. The goal of the trip was not just to offer a new experience but to ask students a question: Are they ready to take things up a notch?

Band teacher Brandi Holt, who joined USD 257 in the fall of 2020, took a group of 30 band students to the Bands of America field show contest. They watched preliminary and finals competitions for high school marching bands from around the country over the course of a weekend, and took in some of the tourist attractions as well.

“I want to push the band in that more competitive direction, but before we jump in, I want them to have a better idea of what that looks like,” she said.

THIS YEAR’S band is a young one. It includes 15 high school students and 26 middle schoolers.

Holt hopes she can keep those young students interested in band as they enter high school, all the way up to graduation. 

It’s not an easy task, as students are encouraged to try a multitude of activities in middle school to see what they like best. In high school, academics and other activities compete more fiercely for their time. 

“Middle school is a good time to experiment with what you’re passionate about,” she said. “I also want students, parents and the community to understand it’s possible to do both band and sports.”

She believes competitions can help keep students’ attention as they transition to high school. 

The Bands of America competition is an elite national competition for field show marching bands, such as you’d see performing at half-time of a college football game. These bands, though, tailor their performances for a judge. They are scored on such things as appearance, cohesiveness and choreography.

Spectators watch the Bands of America high school marching band competition in St. Louis. Courtesy photo

HOLT surveyed the students after the trip to see if they were interested in that sort of competition.

She was a little surprised to find overwhelming support. All but one student responded enthusiastically — and the one negative response was: “I don’t think we’re ready.”

Holt agreed it will take a lot of hard work, especially with such a young group. 

“I think they could be ready. The biggest challenge is knowing when it is appropriate to kick back and have fun, and when to get to work. Part of that comes with maturity,” she said.

Among the survey responses:

“One of the things I noticed is how everyone was doing their part. Not one person slacked off. They did their own part but they worked together.”

“I saw our potential. I envisioned our little band performing on the field and it gave me motivation to say someday we could do this.”

“The bands were very serious and very professional. Their performances need a lot of time, preparation and planning. If one student is out of step, it affects the whole band. In the end, dedication pays off.”

“I learned that even the smallest mouse can make an impact bigger than a lion. I noticed smaller bands played with much more passion than larger bands.”

Holt said she was impressed with the thoughtfulness of the students’ responses. 

“They really paid attention.”

IN ADDITION to the competition, students visited the St. Louis Arch and the City Museum.

Holt said she hoped the trip also provided an opportunity for students to enjoy a different type of culture in a large city. They also learned more about independence and financial management; for many of the students, it was their first trip without parental supervision.

The contest coincided with Farm-City Days, so the band was unable to perform in this year’s parade, which has been a long tradition. Instead, the band attended Biblesta in Humboldt and the Kincaid Fair.

Right after their trip, the band competed at the Neewollah Music Festival in Independence, where they earned a II rating. It was a little bit of a letdown after last year’s band received a I rating, the highest honor. But, Holt noted, if the contest had ranked schools based on their classification, Iola would have ranked second out of 11 schools.

On Saturday, students auditioned for District Band at Independence Community College. 

They’ll find out in the next few weeks if they were selected for the ensemble, and if they qualified for the state competition in January. 

Last year, returning band student Jesse Taylor qualified for state and ranked No. 1 on saxophone. Madeline Wanker qualified for District Band on trumpet. 

Those success stories have already encouraged more students to compete, Holt said.

Last year, six IHS students auditioned at District. This year, 11 are expected to audition in a total of 13 categories. 

Fall is typically devoted to marching band, and the season has now ended. Band students have started preparing for the winter concert season. Holt teaches high school band, advanced band for grades 7 and 8, beginning band for both percussion and winds, high school jazz band and middle school jazz band. 

All bands will perform at a concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. 

Advertisement

Advertisement

Related
April 1, 2021
September 23, 2020
September 16, 2015
January 7, 2015