The marching band season ended with the OSSAA Marching Band Regionals last week. Five schools in the area with marching bands competed, earning scores from 1 to 4.
The Pride of Chandler scored straight 1s at the NE Marching Band Regionals in Oolagah, ending a stellar season strong. Director Zachary Fisher said he could not have been more pleased with how the marching season went.
“They surpassed all my expectations and gave some truly wonderful performances both competitively and non-competitively,” he said.
While they were very good at marching, Fisher said he is particularly pleased with the band’s growth this year. He hopes to continue making progress. The students are doing well, but there is always more to learn and more areas to grow and perfect.
The band will next perform in the Veterans Day program and has its Winter Band Concert on Sunday, Dec. 15, at Chandler High School PAC.
The Spirit of Stroud also competed at the NE Marching Band Regionals in Oologah and ended the season strong with 2s.
Director Tony Thoma at Meeker High School was very proud of his marching band. They competed at Oolagah as well, earning a 3.
He said their scores went up a point from last year, but it wasn’t enough to get the superior rating even though it showed improvement. He said regionals were the band’s best performance of the year.
“We did still have struggles with various things, mostly due to the fact of how young we are. Over 75 percent of our band this year either just finished their first or second year of marching. This is incredibly young compared to most groups,” he said.
Thoma said one of the things he saw the biggest improvement in from start to finish was the overall community that the students built with each other. He said with so many new students, it was important to help them acclimate so they were comfortable and had an environment that was safe and promoted success. Next year, the Meeker band plans to double up on fundamentals. He said the biggest takeaway from his younger students was that marching is band is really hard, but it is doable.
“Every student saw some kind of improvement over the season, and for some, it was a lot, while for others it was marginal,” he said. “What they all understand, though, is I will always only ask that they give me their best.”
Thoma said the band is going straight into their Veterans Day program and Christmas concerts, which will be on either Dec. 5 or 12, depending on the basketball season schedule.
Prague High School’s marching band receive a 3 as well at their regionals. Director Trevor Harrold said the competition went exceedingly well.
“It’s important to think about where our group started and where it reached at Regionals. The side-by-side comparison between our performance just a few short weeks before regionals and our final run was staggering,” he said.
He added that while the Pride of Prague has a remarkable history for having a great marching band, this season has taught them that excellence is a mindset of growth and self-improvement. They’ve been learning that now, more than ever, they must remain humble and work for everything they have while setting goals to reach the future of their potential. He said the students succeeded in making many changes this year, and he knows it wasn’t easy adapting to a new teacher and leadership style.
“They have done a marvelous job meeting my high standards. They have been reflective and open to change, which has laid a strong foundation for our growth going forward,” Harrold said.
The Pride of Prague will be starting up their Fall Fundraiser, as well as working on their Veterans Day program. They plan to have their annual Christmas concert on Dec. 10.