This year, the BVH Marching Band changed their leadership. Band President is not only being a leader but also, caring for your fellow band mates, making sure they stay on task and not being a distraction to other sections in the band. Junior and President Elliot Wilson shared his plans for this marching season.
“Something I want to do differently as band president is keep people more in line than they were last year, and especially at the start of this year because we have not had that etiquette. I want to create that competition to strive to be our best,” Wilson said.
Wilson said he wants students to have a more focus structure out on the field during competition or even during practices out on the field. He wants to show how good the students will become once marching season starts.
“I expect strict good etiquette, to be our best, strive for that goal and to do what we need to and be our best out on that field. The new rookies this year will be successful in marching, playing their instrument, getting their sets and their movement better as time and practices go on. They just have to want it and push themselves to be the best that they are,” Wilson said.
While Wilson strives on focusing on etiquette, junior and Historian Kyleen Smith focuses on capturing the memories that Club Blue can cherish. The historian’s role is taking photos of the band at events, band camps, expressing that this marching band is a community that people have a love for making music, learning music and advertising Club Blue and what it is about as a community.
“I originally wanted to be a section leader of the clarinets, but I decided to sign up for Historian because I love taking pictures. I felt that a Historian would fit me better than being a section leader due to the reality of the love [I have for] taking pictures of things that I admire or have an interest in doing,” Smith said.
Smith wanted to use her love of taking pictures and turn it into her own thing, strategizing it into her own, making good points on how a Historian is more than taking pictures; it is an analysis of storytelling behind the position and for the audience to understand the structure and past more completely.
“What I plan on achieving is making our shows better as time goes on, improving more than I did last year, focusing, strategizing, making the most of it than the times last year,” Smith said.
Smith does not want to change the environment of the community because she finds it good the way it is. Senior and Lieutenant of Colorguard Cesar Armenta shared a similar story of leaning into his position.
“Orignally I wanted to become Captain but then my sister showed me what Guard and Lieutenant was and it amazed me what a great experience it was to be in Guard and I wanted to make it a great experience for my own team. I wanted to give that experience to the newcomers this year in guard and show that the newcomers can have that same experience I did my first year of guard,” Armenta said.
Being a Lieutenant for Guard means that you are essentially stepping in whenever the Captain is unable to. That includes all work for riles, flags and sabers, returners or rookies, while ensuring the structure is followed. Armenta appreciated his sister for showing how Guard really is and how great the experience was for him and wanting others to feel that same experience from him, showing that he had an emotional connection with Guard throughout his years of being in it.
“When I wanted to become Lieutenant, I was at the start of Guard. Helping out was my main priority. Showing rookies how to do these things and to focus on the task they are assigned,” Armenta said.
Armenta cares about his team and they all feel like family to him. He loves helping people with what they struggle in Guard, whether it is with flag work, rifle or saber. He wants to help them improve on their struggles, get them out of their comfort zone and communicate with him on what they want and how to fix their struggles.
“It is a good feeling, and I am grateful that my coach chose me for the opportunity to be in this position. Helping out is what I wanted to do as a Lieutenant; the rookies feel like family to me during the weeks I have been Lieutenant [so far],” Armenta said. “What I want to achieve is getting my seven’s and eight’s–a specific move in guard–down by the end of the season so I can get better at it and show that I’ve achieved something useful and matter to the whole team. I want to have the rookies at least get a single or a triple in rifle tossing during the season,”
While everyone has their own motives for joining Club Blue, it is ultimately their passion for it that pushes them to take upon higher roles. When asked about his own motives, Wilson shared something that resonates throughout all of Club Blue.
“I love the program, I love making music and that is what brought me into the program and I love the people around, it’s a great community to be in and I want to serve well,” Wilson said.
