With four weeks remaining before the start of school, some of Killeen ISD’s top band students are already back in the band hall in preparation for a season of music and marching.
About 125 drum majors, section leaders and color guard leaders from the district’s five high school bands began a two-day leadership camp Tuesday at Ellison High School.
This is the second year for the district’s high school bands to experience the annual leadership camp together.
Band directors said they liked the combined camp because it gives their students and themselves a rare opportunity to mix and mingle with their colleagues from across town.
Over the course of two seven-hour days students are learning from a pair of visiting band directors leadership skills like getting out of your comfort zone and understanding one another’s strengths and weaknesses.
They also are spending time playing team-building games, learning to work together to solve problems.
The full high school bands begin next Monday two weeks of marching camp at each school in preparation for performing halftime shows and competing in marching contests.
Football season begins Aug. 30. Marching contests begin in October.
Before that is a lot of work and sweat when band leaders teach their younger peers to march and play and to work together.
Shoemaker Band Director Sean Hill said the leadership camp is a time for student leaders to learn to buy-in and take on the responsibility of leading the band.
For the beginning camp session, the 100-plus high school students sat at tables spread across the Ellison band hall.
Moving from activity to activity, the trainers led the students to share with one another times they tried something they didn’t know if they could do, something that might be holding them back from focusing on learning and other topics.
After each activity, students were directed to change seats to meet new people.
A pair of student leaders who attended the camp last year said they were excited to get going and deeply aware of the mountain of work in front of them.
“I’m just going to be learning and building new relationships,” said Ellison senior drum major Flora Fuentes of the band’s new student leaders.
“It’s so fun and it’s such a new experience. It’s fun to bring the band together,” she said.
“It’s really exciting,” said Fuentes of leadership camp. “It’s right before band camp. All the leaders are so passionate about it. We’re all happy and ready to teach the other students.”
Chaparral High School junior Jessica Rogers, color guard captain, agreed it’s an exciting time of year for band students.
“This camp is about our leaders coming together to grow together and be better leaders for our organizations,” she said.
Rogers said the camp provides activities that build friendships across schools.
A year ago, the color guard captain said she learned the importance of student leaders helping their directors manage smaller issues within the band to lighten the load of the directors.
“It’s exciting to learn how we’re going to put on our performance – how we’re going to make it happen. It’s also nerve racking to get back into it after being out of it for a while.”
One of the big dates for all five bands with color guards and dance teams is the annual Spirit Spectacular.
That event, for the second year, will include all five of KISD’s high school bands and the middle school bands in a combined performance Sept. 21 at Leo Buckley Stadium.
