Following the recent early-season com- petition, ‘The Gathering,’ Marietta High School’s marching band earned nine awards, the most out of all schools that participated. Of those nine awards, four awards were in class and five awards were for overall competition, including the ‘High Music Award’ for their best overall music regardless of classification.
The marching band has been at MHS for 103 years, dating back to 1919. Currently, the program is directed by Paul Marimon, who has been with the band for seven years, starting his third year as Director of Bands.
“Our most visible part [of the band program] is the marching band and our lovely guard program,” Marimon said.
Marching band is a sport combining band and color guard. The marching band engages audiences through their performances with instrumental musicians who perform while marching. The marching band is accompanied by the color guard, a performing sport that consists of choreographed dances and routines with various equipment to enhance and interpret the music of the marching band. From football games, and competitions, to parades, the marching band contributes to the cultural enrichment of Marietta High School.
Band students are encouraged to participate in band camp for two weeks before the start of the school year, from Monday to Friday for 12 hours daily. At band camp, students learn how to march while playing an instrument following the year’s show theme. As for the color guard, students learn drill and choreography that goes along with the band’s show music and repeat it until it’s show-perfect. The theme for this year’s marching band show is ‘Into the Dark of Night.’
There are many benefits associated with joining the marching band. Students report that they learn how to manage their time better, learning how to juggle their time between marching band and school. They also become thorough communicators and become better at building relationships.
“[Marching band] has made me more communicative and has allowed me to learn how to communicate with others,” Daniel Torres Garcia (11) said, who is now completing his second year of marching band.
Daniel Torres Garcia explains that de- spite not being on the leadership team, he learned how to be a leader by guiding those around him.
“Marching band is important for a number of reasons. It teaches young people valuable skills that they can use through- out their lives such as discipline, self-confidence, and public speaking,” Marimon said.
Marching band fosters a sense of pride and belonging among students and the community. Friendships, bonds, and last- ing memories form over band camp, as marching band is, as Hadley Pacín (12) describes it, “one family.”
“[People] don’t realize how much of a bigger world you open up when you do this activity. Like how many people you can now look at in the hallways and wave to maybe when you would have not seen them at all before joining the marching band,” Pacín said.
Join them at their next competition at McEachern High School on Oct. 21 to view the full show. Keep up with them at @mariettahsband on Instagram.
