“HO!”
One hundred seventy-six students dressed in full uniform were still as oaks in face of the winds of expectations and ready to display their tireless work over the past month. Going through nine evenings of rehearsals and three performances since the start of the year, each and every session resulted in boundless leaps of progress, one after another.
On Monday, Oct. 6, they faced their greatest challenge during the 2025 marching season. It’s the first time in five decades that the HHS marching band has been to the MSBOA marching festival. Tensions were high as the band directors pushed each and every student to their limits, so they could march their best performance yet.
“The rehearsals were pretty good most of the time, but they were a little bit harsh, in terms of ‘taking it back’ [more reps],” sophomore Ryan John said.
Yet with these strict rehearsals came large leaps of progress between each and every one, and their effects could be seen in the results of the adjudication. All first-division grades for marching, music, overall effect, and all over the board.
“I think I came a long way, in terms of progress, ” John said. “Especially since the start of the month, because in the beginning, I was not sure of where to go marching wise, and didn’t memorize or even play properly. But in a month’s time, I am able to march almost perfectly and play memorised pretty well.”
And it’s not just the instrumental band that made progress. The color guard was able to put on a magnificent display of coordination and synchronisation, adding the final touch for the performance.
“Personally, I would say my performance at [the] festival was probably my best one of the season so far,” said freshman Lucas Ha, a proud member of the Huron marching band color guard. “It wasn’t without a couple of stumbles, but overall and as reflected in our score, I think our hard work really paid off.”
As a first-time marcher (and high-schooler), Ha’s experience in marching band was rocky, yet full of progress and improvement.
“I would say we’ve improved quite a bit since the start of the month,” said Ha. “Looking back, there were a lot of things that we worked on and fixed, and I think the work of every individual marcher at each and every practice contributed to our progress as a group.”
In the end, the HHS marching band, as a collective, achieved the final result of their success at the festival. The process was a collective effort. Every one of the marchers played a role, yielding first-class ratings all over the board in music, marching, and general showmanship. And they will continue to do so.
