Leading 90 students in the marching band comes with challenges, according to senior Leeore Levinstein, yet sometimes the impact drum majors have on bands goes unnoticed.
“It is awesome to have a big influence on people when they come to me for help,” senior Leeore Levinstein said.
As drum major, Levinstein gets to cultivate how she wants to lead and how she has seen others lead in the past. Things such as in the spring, right before drum major tryouts, there was leadership training for people who wanted to lead the marching band.
“It’s overwhelming to be in charge sometimes but it is also a great experience,” Levinstein said.
The other drum major, junior Justin Schafer, understands the responsibility of leading the band. As a 16 year old, he knows he needs to gain the respect of students his age.
“Being able to lead the band requires patience and knowledge of how the band is supposed to act and sound,” Schafer said. “I really enjoy being able to help everyone become better.”
In the summer, the marching band held a band camp where students came to school and work on their skills. However, 7 students who said they would come to band camp didn’t show up and this required the marching band to change their formation to fit less numbers. When school started, 3 students joined, and the band director had to add those 3 students to their new formation.
“It is harder to fill holes in the band,” band director Doug Hoover said, “then it is to add people to the formation. Some students decisions make it difficult on other students.”
That hasn’t been the only obstacle for the band, as recent hot weather has been a problem for the marching band when they practice in the morning.
“It’s hard to maintain the intensity when you are sweating buckets at 7 am,” Mr. Hoover said.