The marching band has been walking like an Egyptian as they prepare for their upcoming performances. Its theme this year is about Ra, the Egyptian sun-god, and the band members have been working hard to perfect it.

Color guard section leader Kaila Taylor loves this theme.

“It’s about the Egyptian sun god Ra and what the Egyptians believed he did every night,” Taylor said. “Apparently they thought he rose from the water, then traveled across the sky and [that] he died and was reborn every day.”

The marching band members are always impressed with the themes that they get to do each year. This year is certainly no exception.

However, the performances do not become as high quality as they are without long hours of practice. The students involved have to be highly dedicated to do what they do.

“We have practices every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday,” Taylor explained. “We also perform at football games which is good practice for the competitions.”

The practices actually begin well before the school year even starts, according to Christian Poole, the marching band director and music teacher.

“We have been rehearsing all summer, and we had a 2-week camp in August,” Poole said. “We’re really on track to be maybe a little ahead [of where we were] last year so I feel like we’re well prepared.”

Even with all of the high-intensity practices that the marching band has, mellophone player Adelaide Achterberg explained that they still run into some struggles in preparing for their performances.

“We’ve been working a lot on dynamics because certain players have been sticking out,” Achterberg said. “The dynamics aren’t all…together.”

Marching band preparations begin early in the year, so the musicians can decide what the theme will be and how to train any new members that may be coming up.

“We usually start [planning the shows] in about January,” Poole said. “We really do consider who the group is going to be…so we can pick music and drill appropriate for them.”

The early starts to the music program (the planning in January and the practices during the summer) are intended to help the marching band perform to the best of their ability.

The band’s first performance will be on September 26.