The ROHS Marching Band has always been seen as a big part of school spirit, and a big part of ROHS football season, but is also connected to the community of Royal Oak.
“It adds so much to school events and it brings more fun to the games. It is also a unique way for students to express themselves, musically and visually,” said junior Mary Johnson, who leads the clarinet section.
The marching band not only performs at football games, but is also actively involved in the Royal Oak community. The band organizes many different events, like their Halloween parade, which takes place in local neighborhoods, and the Christmas parade, which takes place in the downtown area. Through these events, the entire community can enjoy the band’s efforts.
“They are the most present in the music department not only at our school but in the community as well.” band director, Kirsten Jensen said.
Along with community activities, the band’s biggest focus is on the annual Festival, an event where bands from different schools come together and perform their shows for a rating. Festival is not a competition where the band competes for first place; instead it’s a learning experience.
“[Festival is] more so for education and community,” Jensen said.
Festival took place on October 14th, and the band earned all “1” ratings for their performance.
“It was very exciting,” said Johnson. “All of our hard work throughout the season paid off. We feel very proud of ourselves. Last year, we received a ‘1’ overall, but it was not straight ‘1’ ratings in every category. This year, we earned a ‘1’ in every category.”
The band season begins in August with band camp, which runs 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. daily. Once school starts, practice on top of school becomes more challenging, especially for band leaders like junior drum major, Avery Water.
The band practices every day for two hours to perfect and adjust their drill.
“It depends on the day-to-day, but they mainly run through the drill,” Water said. Spending all this time on drill not only allows for an amazing half-time performance, but also a first-degree rating at festival.
As Jensen’s second year as head director of the band, this year’s season sounds very promising with some marchers and the director having an abundance of excitement for the season ahead.
“We still have things to look forward to,” said Johnson. “We have the Glow Show on October 22nd. We cover ourselves head to toe in glow sticks and the stadium lights are turned off. The Berkley and Clawson High School bands join us and we perform Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ as a whole.”
