As the summer season comes to an end, back-to-school activities are almost in full swing. One of the most important is the Tippecanoe High School band's annual band camp. Outside of preparing for the football season, the young musicians are gearing up for the rigorous competition season. Beyond the National Anthem, Fight Song, and the Seven Nation Army, band students spend a week in the summer learning not only how to march but also a good chunk of their performance. This will hopefully carry them to the state marching band competition in November. There are a lot of steps that take the show from measure to movement.

This year’s show, The Life For Me, incorporates exciting themes of pirates. Stephan Monath, the band director at the high school, is excited about the show’s theatrical flair. Monath mentioned wanting to do a pirate-themed production for a while now and says, “This show is probably the most theatrical show the marching band has ever done since I’ve been here.” The production features a pirate ship and a treasure island. These props immerse the audience and judges into the world of a pirate. They were built from Stephan’s ideas and crafted by Chad Snyder from Woodland Creations.

The Life For Me is a more than meets the eye. Behind every step each band member takes are hours of practice and dedication. In the week proceeding band camp, “rookies” or underclassmen learn the basics of marching. There are an astounding 32 rookie members of the band population, and of that, 24 are just entering the eighth grade. This means that out of around 65 band members overall, many are beginners.

After learning how to count their steps, roll their feet, and move from yard line to yard line, the rookies join the rest of the band for a week of learning the actual show. During this time, band members use a series of colored circles to mark their places on the field and then march to each circle. They then repeat this movement until they are out of “chips.” Once the colored chips are set, the full picture of the movement starts to form.

However, marching band is not as easy as just walking from point to point. Sometimes, the use of all five chips only makes up for a measure of the song, and after combining the music with the footwork, it takes up to an entire day to learn a small fraction of the production.

Throughout band camp, students spend at least eight hours each day contributing to this process. Whether it meant playing the music, learning new steps, placing down new chips, or reviewing old ones, the band has been extremely dedicated to their talents.

Band camp wouldn’t be band camp if it were all work and no play. Although students spend the majority of the week getting competition ready, they also spend time bonding through shared dinners, nighttime activities, and games. The marching band is more than just a band but also a team. There are traditions, inside jokes, friendships, and even mentoring that make the experience memorable as well as educational. The entire band is led and conducted by field commander and senior Maddie Gold. In comparison to past years, this and last are some of the first years in a while where only one student has filled the position. Leadership like Maddie’s is an important part of the Marching band community. Therefore, the tradition of earning a “little sib” and becoming one is one of the most coveted parts of band camp.

After a long first day of rehearsal, rookies gathered around to find out which senior or junior was their “big sib.” This sibling-like figure is one that rookies can turn to for advice, friendship, and positivity not only throughout band camp but throughout the entire season. The leadership of the older, more experienced marchers helps guide the new kids and give the older ones a sense of responsibility.

Between the fun and fundamentals of band camp week, the Tippecanoe Marching Band has been preparing to create a show that is memorable and enjoyable for their future audiences, judges, and even future selves. Band camp is hard work. However, within each measure, step, movement, and even run of the show, the relationships, experiences, trophies, and accomplished feelings of each performance make it all worth it.