Our own JAHS marching band is in full swing and is all praise . After a summer of hard work, in school practicing, and after school practicing, the band has set its sight on dominating the 2022 fall season.

The band’s director Justin Hennig explained that he has high hopes for this season.
Hennig said at the beginning of the season that he hasn’t had such a talented group of kids like this in a long time.“We have never had a band that was this capable at marching or musically this early in the season,” he says. “And frankly they’re killing it and we hope to keep that steamrolling.”

To play their very best for every Friday night, band is always working hard and perfecting what they do. A typical week in band looks like practice every day during school and also a rehearsal every Tuesday night after school. Hennig explains a typical practice schedule starts inside where everyone warms up, they then rehearse inside with their music, and then they go outside and practice their marching. He also explains that there are a lot of things they also work on in practice that most people might not think about, like placement and rhythm. “We usually do marching fundamentals. Like fixing style, fixing knee height, placement,” Hennig says.

The band isn’t just all work; they also make sure to incorporate fun during the season. Outside of the normal practice or performance, fun activities are a component to the band’s camaraderie. Taking trips to Cedar Point during the summer on top of taking a band trip every four years are just some of the things they do for fun. Last year they went to Disney World. “The whole band went and we saw Magic Kingdom, Hollywood studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom,” Hennig says.“We went to all four parks and even got to march down Main Street, USA.”

To also be credited for the band’s success are the student directors. Every new band season, two seniors are selected by band staff and also other members to be student directors. The people are selected based on characteristics like responsibility, work ethic, and leadership. This year, the student directors are seniors Amara Suchy and Jackson McCoy.

Suchy says, ”In order for me to become band director I had to audition and in that audition I had to do things like problem solving situations.” A student director has many responsibilities. This can include filling in for Mr. Hennig when he is out, testing music for other people, and being a person someone can come to if they need help.

“As student director I have to conduct the band on either the Star Spangled Banner or Alma Mater during home games,” Suchy says. “Whenever the band receives any sort of award or nominations I go up and kind of represent the band as a whole.”

After two tough seasons during COVID-19 Suchy explains that this year they’ve definitely gotten the mojo back. Suchy says,“I think the energy of this season is super high especially coming off covid we had two struggling years of…keeping that energy and excitement going. And the senior class always talks about how we want to keep this season like our freshman year. We just wanted that drive and excitement to come back up and we’ve definitely hit that peak and I think this is by far one of the best years the band has had.”