Last weekend, the Greeley West marching band spent their day performing for the Evans Day Parade. This is a yearly tradition for the Pride of the Spartan Marching Band.
This parade was a combination of many things, including Greeley West, Greeley Central and Northridge all coming together as one to perform.
Senior Rebekah Wainscott said, “Unlike athletics, marching band is more about having fun and celebrating when someone does better than us. For most of us, we are all really good friends with the students in the other band.”
Wainscott went on to talk about their specific performance, feeling super sentimental and happy about what they did saying, “I felt so proud of not only myself but how well the returners and new kids did at performing.”
Mr. Keaton Michel, the band’s director, agreed. Michel said, “They had an excellent performance. They made huge improvements from the Colorado State Fair Parade just weeks ago. The band especially brought the energy which was awesome.”
He went on to say, “My motto is, ‘the band always wins’ so regardless if we’re the only school performing or we are at an event, we cheer one everyone as we cheer on our own. The awesome and beautiful thing about band is there are times where we are competitive, but the activity is generally very welcoming and supportive at all levels.”
Wainscott continued by talking about the fundamentals of this program, “These performances are far more than just us doing some musical activities. It builds on so much more and takes long periods of dedicated time to put things together.”
Michel added on, “The marching band experience develops far more than musical and performance skills. It builds qualities that students carry into every part of their lives. Because success in marching band depends on each individual contributing to a larger whole, students naturally develop strong teamwork skills. They learn how to communicate, collaborate and support one another. the daily discipline of practicing an instrument fosters a strong work ethic and time management that students can apply to everything.”
