CMHS band marches to their own tune

By Chloe Ortega Reporter

Photo by Sanaia Jenkins

Crete-Monee High School has had a band for many years, and all band kids, either past or present, enjoy the experience. Whether it is marching, pep, jazz, or concert band, the high schoolers that participate enjoy it.

“It’s a family unit. You hate each other sometimes but you love each other if you want anything good to come out of it,” said Olivia Dalton, a sophomore section leader for alto saxophones.

In marching band, there are a couple of positions that those students can step into. One of those positions is a drum major who keeps time and conducts at competitions. It is a position a student must audition for near the end of the marching season.

Similar to the drum major position, a student can rise into the role of a section leader. This is reserved for a student who displays leadership qualities.

Being a section leader is mostly for sophomores, juniors, and seniors; however, in special situations, where a section only has freshmen, one can become a section leader.

For marching band, students learn different field formations, memorize music, and perform choreography. Band camp stretches from the end of July through the first two weeks of August. Kids learn to march in hot and grueling weather between 8 a.m and 3:30 p.m.

Band members then put those techniques to use and began to learn the songs “Our League,” the “Star Spangled Banner” and the school fight song necessary for football games. The band added in “Uptown Funk” and a couple other uplifting pieces for their parade in University Park and the first day for staff in the district.

Once band camp ended, students started with their night-time practices that lasted from 6 to 9 p.m., where they learned many of the marches seen at the football games.

For the first performance at the football game, the marching band had played the songs “Get Ready,” “Superstitious,” and “Uptown Funk.” Those songs accompanied simple formations, or none at all. When their next performance came along at the homecoming game on Sept. 20, it consisted of new formations that were taught the night before. They presented “Blowin,” “Wild Thoughts,” and “For Free.”

The CMHS marching band has been active this school year, as they have participated in two competitions. The pieces they played for their show called “Mission Incredibles” were “Incredibles Part 1,” “Mission Impossible,” and “James Bond.”

With a total of 33 sets to memorize, they performed at home football games and competitions, one at Rich Central and another in El Paso, Ill. During both, they earned four trophies.

As the band competed at Rich Central, they had to withstand the chilly weather, and the field was slippery and some even fell.

El Paso, Ill. was a different story. The competition took place inside of the host school, which meant the band had to get used to the different feel of an inside location. The award ceremony consisted of a special performance by El Paso, in which the “Pokemon Theme Song,” “Halo,” and others played. After that awesome performance, “Uptown Funk” began to blast through the gymnasium.

As the drum major of El Paso began to dance, she urged other school bands to join her in the middle of the gym. Many of the Warriors and others ran down and began to jam out to “Uptown Funk.”

With that, the award ceremony began. Out of the 2A class, they placed third and gained the Most Spirited Award. It was a special award, and the marching band was honored to receive it.

“We did our best. It could’ve been better, but third place is okay,” said Nicolas Guerrero, a junior clarinet player.

The bus ride from Crete-Monee to El Paso was a two-hour ride. The bus rides are something to look forward to for the band kids, as they have their little jokes and sometimes a time of peacefulness.

“They were fun at first because I had friends on my bus, but I also slept a lot,” said Delia Koehl, a freshman tenor saxophone player. “It was really nice, being with friends and sleeping.”

Participating in marching band requires a lot of sacrifices. For example, it takes up late Tuesday and Thursday nights, a couple of sleeping hours, and some work time. Some Friday nights are also taken away as well due to football games, but it is good to be with friends all the same.

“Very proud, we came a long way,” said Marcus Gilespie, an alto saxophone player after being asked what his fifth grade self would think of him now. Now he is involved in basketball, math team, jazz band, and band, and maintains a good GPA.