The marching band dedicates a large amount of their schedule to bringing an engaging and stunning show. They practice for over eight hours every week; that number doesn’t even include the time they spend during school hours. The band consists of 240 students from all grade levels and has around 15 basic instruments. The marching band’s transition from practice to performance is full of teamwork, dedication, and the exhilarating, but satisfying feeling of seeing every student come together to provide a well-done halftime performance

“We do eight hours outside of school practice a week per UIL rules, and then we have class every day,” senior Mason Mahn said. “So, it’s a bunch of rehearsals. On game days right after class is dismissed, we come over to the fine arts building, eat dinner, put our uniforms on, load the buses, and head to the game. We don’t return to Bowie until about midnight, so it’s a whole day ordeal from 7 a.m. to midnight.”

Rehearsals are more complex than just practicing the same melody on repeat. Directors have repeated drills and methods to help the band build muscle memory and execute a flawless performance. Students have designated locations on the field from which they learn the marching patterns they must follow during their performance. A lot of time is spent perfecting their marching coordination in order to present an organized and amusing show for the audience.

“I enjoy practices a lot because it’s part of the process and that’s when you’re really able to see changes and you get to spend the most time with the kids,” Band Director Jennifer Hanford said. “Contest days are really fun because you can actually see them in action and uniform. I think just getting to see everything come together is cool.”

The band has many leadership positions. There are band directors, captains, section leaders, band council, and band hall committee. The band council plans fun activities for the band and the band hall committee makes sure the band hall is clean and organized.

“Directly under us is where our drum majors are, they are the students who stand in the front and behind the band, basically the conductors of the band,” Hanford said. “Underneath them are the captains for the specific sections. We have four main sections, which are woodwinds, brass, percussion, and color guard, and there are captains in all four of those categories.”

During every varsity football game, the band plays stand tunes after touchdowns and works with the color guard and Silver Stars during halftime to provide an entertaining show for the audience. The band’s performance usually lasts around 10 minutes. 

“Performances and games are all so fun, especially going down during halftime to get to perform our show and play with the Silver Stars,” Mahn said. “With all the practice we do, seeing that project come to completion and just getting to see a 240-person project come together into something is a lot of fun to see.”

The marching band also participates in competitions. They attend Bands of America and UIL competitions. They attend five to six contests every year. During practice, they primarily practice for their halftime show. So, they learn their competition piece very slowly. They also take some time out of their practice to practice with the Silver Stars for their performance.

“I wanted to join the band in middle school and I kind of regretted it,” junior Pierre Vandervenett said. “Now I find it fun because it’s just a good group of friends, that’s mainly the best part, a good community.”

Many band students have been in the band since they first joined in 6th grade. Joining the band is a great way to become closer to school and be a part of a group where you immediately have something in common with everyone else. 

“I’ve never met someone in life who has regretted being in band, and the ones who were never in band wish they would’ve been,” Hanford said. “Regardless if it’s one of those plain instruments, it’s really cool to be able to do in life. In this organization you automatically have 240 friends and people that you know and have a home you can go to every day, it’s just a fun and welcoming environment for people to be a part of and get to play fun music with cool people.”