The Band is a Family, not a Club

Posted on by Jules McBride

   With the fall season long over, it sure has been a while since anyone at GS has heard the triumph of a brassy 500 Fight Song or the thrumming of the drums through the air, and it’ll be a long time until anyone does, that is, except for anyone who has walked into room 316: the band room.

    Ms. Jamie West has been the director of marching band and the maestro of the band room for almost 15 years, and before that was herself involved in her school’s marching band at Saltsburg; she believes the marching band is essential to the school. Not only is the band the largest student organization, but according to West, it is more valuable than some classes.

    “I think that what kids learn in marching band is so much more valuable than notes on a page or marching on the field or even putting on shows every week,” West said. “We teach them to be good citizens, and we teach them to be responsible. [Musically oriented] kids are generally the more successful kids. And I think it has a lot to do with not only the musical skills we’re teaching, but also those soft skills, like being an organized and put-together person.”

    The band, as disorganized as it may sound in 316, is a dynamic group. There’s drumline, the flag-twirling majorettes, the various instrumental sections and dance team, who all act like their own families, but are all able to cooperate to perform. This diversity gives students the opportunity to experiment with different roles throughout the years.

    “If we didn’t have band, it’d be hard to explore different kinds of art,” Sierra Flanders, a junior, said. “And we don’t have just marching band. We still have summer concert band and jazz band.”

    The GS band doesn’t compete, but that doesn’t stop some of the members from finding a real meaning in the marching band, as well as its counterparts, like the jazz band or orchestra. Some say it would be accurate to describe the band as a family.

    “All the guys in drumline are like my big brothers,” junior bass drum Maddy Kaufman said. “I love being around them so much.”

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Kaufman (left from center) and bass line at the 2017 Christmas parade. Photo courtesy: GSHS Yearbook

    Kaufman picked up the flute in 4th grade in hopes of transitioning to the piccolo (the name amused her), but in 7th grade she was inspired by lessons to switch to drumline. Since, she has manned the bass drum.

    “It means a lot to me,” she said.

    Kaufman’s opinion is not unique to drumline, however. Despite holding a drastically different role, junior Emma Skidmore of the dance team agreed with her.

    “I would definitely say we’re a family,” Skidmore said. “I mean, we’ve really been through the ringer together.”

    According to Skidmore, “the ringer” is the rain-or-shine philosophy of the school band, such as playing out in the freezing cold rain at late-fall football games, and band camp, which happens for two notoriously sweaty weeks in August before the football season begins.

    “And we’ve done fun stuff, too,” she said. “We’ve gone to Disney together; this year we’re going to New York. So I’d say we’re really are a family.”

    Skidmore tried out for dance team her freshman year and quickly learned that “the band trip,” as it is called, is the largest perk of being in marching band. Hauling every member to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World happens to be a particular favorite among band kids.

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Flags collected by various band members hang below their arrangement of band T-shirts  on the primary wall of room 316. Photo By: Jules McBride

  

   “We went to Disney World, and we performed,” junior and former flute Robert Dietrich said. “But it was a super long trip, and there was only one day we performed. The rest of the time, we got to enjoy ourselves.”

    Dietrich was a long time flute in marching band, but decided to commit to musical and his part-time job at Taco Bell. Uniquely, Dietrich has been on the inside, but he also understands the view from the outside. When asked about misconceptions that the outside students may have about band kids, Dietrich expressed concern about students not joining due to a fear of commitment.

    “I’d imagine that people think that it’s super rigorous,” he said. “Or you have to be really dedicated, and if you’re not a super crazy band nerd, you’re not gonna have fun. But that’s not the case at all.

    Dietrich made clear that he didn’t mean to say that marching band was a blow-off.

    “You have to try,” he said. “But you don’t have to commit your whole life to it.”

    When asked, West used similar phrasing.    

     “I think some kids might think they have to be super, super good at an instrument, or that it’s every day, or that there’s more time commitment than there actually is,” she said. “We practice two days a week. Sometimes we add a third, but only maybe twice [per year].”

    The band students and Mrs. West agree that joining the band is not handing over one’s entire life to an instrument. In fact, there are many students who join the marching band as a manager. In this position, they act as a sort of logistics worker, but according to West, many who later pick up an instrument end up trying out for a seat.

     Even among the pure instrumentalists, there are still many who branch out or even multitask. Flanders, who in fourth grade picked the trumpet “because it looked the easiest,” provided some examples.

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Flanders (right) on the field at halftime with fellow trumpet Kane Claflin. Photo Courtesy: GSHS Yearbook

   “We have people who do track, and we have people who do hockey,” Flanders said. “We have people who do normal sports, and then we have people who don’t do any sports. I mean, we have people who are artists, we have people who enjoy science…”

    There are even students who fill the roles of both a band member and cheerleader.

   “There are a lot of games where they have to switch between being in the marching band and being a cheerleader,” Dietrich explained. “They’re on the field playing their instrument in their cheerleader uniform, and then they go back and start cheering. Crazy.”

    As a whole, the band brings a form of self-expression and family to the students who join it. It’s easy to see by the number of students like Flanders, Kaufman, and Dietrich who have been involved since the get-go.

     “I’ve played flute since 4th grade, so do the math, that’s like seven years,” Dietrich said.

     As one can imagine, the band is always busy making GS livelier with parades, pep rallies, and their usual presence at Offut field. Currently, concert band is is filling room 316 with the sound of preparations for their Coffee House this May, where the cafeteria will be graced with casual entertainment in what could be described as an “open concert.”

    “It’s not like a concert where you have to sit quietly and clap at appropriate times,” West said. “The music is ambient, and it’s just a really nice night.”

  

 

The Faces of Mock Trial

Posted on by Jules McBride

The following is an article written by Emma Skidmore for the last issue of the Lions’ Den, unpublished due to an error.

by Emma Skidmore

 

As the GS Mock Trial teams kicks off their season, they are facing changes outside of the courtroom. Former Coach Mrs. Elizabeth Simone has decided to step away, resigning as the advisor for the Mock Trial team.

Despite her absence, she is positive the team will continue to be successful.

“I think they’re [the team] going to be absolutely fine,” Mrs. Simone said. “They are more than prepared to go for it and the people who are going to be helping and coaching them are great. They’re more than capable.”

Simone chose to resign due to the time commitment clashing with her personal life.

“It literally comes down to time,” she said. “My husband got a new job and it’s an unpredictable schedule and we have to be able to pick up our five-year-old on time every day.”

However, the team was very understanding.

“They know how important my family is and because we were together so much last year, my daughter had to come to some of our practices so they knew that it was a bit of a struggle and they totally understood,” Simone said.

In the wake of a victorious season last year, she is very confident the team will continue to succeed without her.

“I don’t think the change in leadership will mean anything for their success,” Simone said. “Mock Trial is very subjective in the scoring and I literally never knew from trial to trial how things would go.”

Despite her faith in the team, she will miss aspects of being coach.

“I will miss the interaction with the students,” Simone said. “I’ll miss laughing with them.”

Through Mock Trial, she has formed relationships with students and the team has positively impacted her life.

“I love seeing how the skills that they built in Mock Trial like public speaking and questioning and thinking on your feet pay off in their careers,” Simone said.

Though she won’t be coach, she still wants to help the team.

“I will volunteer and I will help, but I don’t want to be in the way,” she said. “It’s possible that I would give feedback to something that the coach said and they need to listen to their coach.”

Similarly, students have a generally positive outlook on the change.

“I’m a little nervous because it’s a big change, and any change is scary,” senior Claire Simpson (front, second from right) said. “The new coaches seem really into it and ready to fill Mrs. Simone’s shoes.”

Simpson expressed her hopes for what the new coaches will do as well.

“I hope they push us to be better,” she said. “We have some major potential on our team but if we get cocky, it’s all over. They’ve got to keep us straight and humble.”

Simpson is still very enthusiastic for this season despite the changes.

“I hope we can really step it up to the next level,” she said. “We’re all really involved and ready to do serious work and have a great season.”

While other teammates may be more worried than others, she is confident in how they will ultimately respond to the change.

“I think we’ll handle it as we always do- as a team,” Simpson said.

Like Mrs. Simone, students feel that Mock Trial has had a positive impact on their life.

“Mock Trial has given me a great group of friends and it’s really fun to go into trial with them,” senior Johnny Stafford (back, leftmost) said. “Win or lose, we gain a lot of experience, but winning a trial is a huge accomplishment.”

This change may seem difficult to some, but the team is accustomed to new experiences.

“I understand that a new coach will probably need a little bit of time to understand everything, but for most of us as juniors, it was our first time on the team and we managed to win States,” Stafford said.

He believes that the seniors will have to take on leadership roles now more than ever, but that challenge will prove to be worth it.

“It might be difficult, but Mock Trial is always hard and that’s why we love it,” Stafford said.

The Mock Trial team will now be coached by Mr. Nick Diehl and Mrs. Kristen Solomon.

“The kids who do Mock Trial are really good kids, and our Mock Trial program is really special,” Mr. Diehl said. “Truthfully, it’s an honor for me to be involved.”

Mrs. Solomon wanted to help the team as much as possible.

“Former students approached me and I wanted to be helpful and I wanted to work with them again,” Solomon said.

Both new coaches are hoping to positively influence the team and help them to become even more successful.

“I think having an English background means I can help them develop the language in their arguments,” Diehl said.

Similarly, Solomon is looking to bring a fresh perspective to the team.

“I will give them encouragement and critique them to make them more confident for when they actually do compete,” she said.

Each coach is excited to work with the students and hoping for a successful year.

“The Mock Trial team has some phenomenal kids on the team,” Diehl said. “Most of being coach and a teacher is helping to pull out of kids what’s already there.”