Hours after the last bell of the day rings and the campus falls silent to empty classrooms and halls, the beat of a metronome shatters the deafening silence. Snare drums rattle away, tubas and trumpets blare into the open blue sky and flutes whistle melodically with clarinets.
While most finish their school day in the afternoon, band and color guard students remain on campus until sunset. Consisting of over 190 members, the marching band averages nearly 14 hours of practice a week, excluding the 85-minute class periods. The season runs from August to November.
Practices are held after school two days a week on either Monday, Tuesday or Thursday each week for one to three hours each time: five hours in total for marching band and six hours for color guard. During the 8-hour practices on Saturdays that both groups attend, members have a one-hour lunch break. The remaining seven hours are dedicated to practicing, whether it is in the music building or out on the football field.
With marching band requiring such dedication, participants must figure out a way to manage rigorous homework loads.
Drum major senior Petr Tupitsyn said to manage the required band time commitment and school work, he completes all homework on days he does not have band practice.
“Since we have a block schedule, that means you can do your homework on Wednesday so you have no homework left to do on Thursday, and you can go to bed nice and early,” Tupitsyn said.
Junior Sophia Deng, a color guard member, said she has found scheduling a free period helpful.
“I get distracted very easily when I do homework at home, so a free period gives me more time to do my homework [and destress],” Deng said.
Meanwhile, sophomore Richard Chung, a clarinet player, does band along with a full schedule of seven classes.
“[Being a part of marching band] will teach you a lot of things, like learning to be responsible and learning to manage your time,” Chung said.
Chung is also a member of the robotics team, another time-consuming extracurricular. He said he had multiple dilemmas in managing his time: Many of the practices in both band and robotics overlapped, so he had to prioritize one over the other. By communicating with instructors and activity leaders, he has been able to fit everything into his schedule.
Through experience, Chung was able to sharpen his time management skills and take care of his assignments, and believes that he has learned a lot from this experience.
Most band members said the benefits of band outweigh the downsides.
“Band is very fun, and it acts to me as a distraction from homework and school stress,” color guard member sophomore Cherilyn Hu said.
