This year, the marching band and color guard’s 2025 show, “Futurescape,” competed in a national qualifier for the first time in school history. While the group did not proceed, this competition was a monumental moment because they are now competing at a national level, instead of regional or statewide. This accomplishment was made possible by the directors and the amount of hard work over the year.
Beginning in July, both groups set out in the heat to memorize an 8-minute routine consisting of 3 songs. Each week consisted of up to 40 hours of practice. Once school started, the hours changed to 12 hours plus school time as competition season emerged around the corner.           They use a dot system to help learn each position an individual member will be in. “We used the UDB app, which showed us all our dots and gave us our exact coordinates. The dots and sets aligned with the music, which helped it make sense,” Landon Dowdy said. Overall, the total number of dots, or memorized locations on the 100-yard field, was 84. Senior Martha Grace Winningham adds, “It can be difficult, but it gets pretty easy since we do like 100 repetitions at every rehearsal so it kind of becomes engrained in your mind.”
Led by 3 drum majors, the talented group had over 190 students to call their members this year. All 13 sections, along with color guard, led by a section leader, contributed to the success of this season. “You have the responsibility of keeping up the morale of the section. And with losses, you want to make sure you’re still encouraging, but also you have to be watching for the areas of growth that are important to pay attention to,” Addison Smittle said.
With such a big program, one of the biggest in the state, there are numerous perks. Senior Ashton Keech said, “I like being able to see so many people. “I love the amount of people that I get to interact with everyday, and just the number of people that I can share music with, and share all those experiences with.” said Lauren Bell 12.