Performance at Valley

Every year, my high school marching band wraps up the competitive season at the Valley MarchMasters Competition. This is the competition we aim to do our absolute best at. We hope that our performance at Valley is the peak of our season. This year, it certainly was. We finished at fourth place out of fourteen, the highest Kennedy has placed in at least a decade. The performance was absolutely spectacular and it is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Earlier that morning, our band participated in the State Marching Band Contest. This is not a competition, but rather we are judged against ourselves. Band can earn one of three scores: Division I, II, or III. Division I is the highest and Division III is the lowest. As usual, we secured a Division I rating with ease. Then we loaded the buses and departed on the two hour trip to West Des Moines Valley High School.

It has been freezing every year that I can remember at Valley, but this year it was not too bad. This was the first good sign. We warmed up the band and had an inspiring pep talk from the directors. I could tell the band was going to play very well the moment we stepped on the track. The music sounded excellent and all the things we pounded on the entire season was fixed. The drill was clean and crisp. I couldn't help but smile as the band played the show.

When we lined up for awards, the other drum major and I patiently waited to hear our name being announced. We waited and waited, while many other bands were placed below ours. Finally, our biggest rival, Washington, placed fifth. We were in shock. We had never placed higher than Wash before. Our school name was announced next in fourth place. It was and extremely emotional experience.

I am so proud of how far the band has come this season and I absolutely cannot wait for what is in store for us next year!