While most students spent the last month of their summer going on vacations and hanging out with friends, John Cauvin ‘17 and the other 278 students who participate in the Westwood Warrior Marching Band were at school, working hard. Starting on July 28, band kids attended a rigorous summer band camp, working 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Now that school is back in session, Cauvin must find a way to balance school and rehearsals four days a week while continuing to excel in music.

“In my opinion, it’s not as hard as people would think,” Cauvin said. “I know I struggled with balancing band and school at first, but now that I’m a senior I’ve gotten the hang of it.”

The band has afternoon rehearsals on Mondays and Tuesdays and morning rehearsals on Thursdays and Fridays, making it difficult for students to do homework and get enough sleep.

“On Mondays and Tuesdays I’m usually scrambling to get homework done, and on Thursdays and Fridays I am extremely tired,” Cauvin said.

The directors give the students a study block on Wednesdays to help them catch up on schoolwork, but 45 minutes can only help them so much. Their rehearsals are extremely tiring and last from an hour and a half to three hours depending on the day. They must learn how to march, play, and memorize where they are on the field in every set. arching band is much more difficult than other students realize.

Many students don’t see what happens behind the scenes to get such a large organization ready for a football game. In addition to eight hours of outside practice a week, the band has a strict game day procedure with a meeting time of 5 p.m. after school in order to get everything ready on time.

“As soon as school gets out I go straight to the cafeteria, eat my meal, and everyone goes to the bathrooms to change and get our uniforms on,” Cauvin said, “This is all usually under some kind of time crunch, so you can’t take your time.”

The uniform requires many items, including black gloves, black socks, and black marching shoes so that every member looks the same on the field. If any of these aspects are forgotten by a student and can’t be retrieved in time, they are not allowed to march with the rest of the band during halftime. Once everyone is dressed, they meet in front of the stage for pre-game traditions.

“The officers go on stage and announce people of the week,” Cauvin said, “ Then they perform the skit and everyone goes to the buses.”  

The band gives awards to a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and section of the week to recognize those who have shown exceptional marching style and rehearsal etiquette. These exceptional members are given bags of candy by the officer team. The officers then perform a funny skit for the band in order to boost morale and get everyone excited for the game.

“I will definitely miss performing,” Cauvin said, “There are so many songs I have performed that bring back a flood of memories when I hear them.”

The band students form bonds that are some of the strongest on campus. Working together for so long leads these students to get to know each other extremely well and consider themselves a big family.

“There are so many parts of marching band I love and the close bond that you get with everyone around you is incredible,” Cauvin said.

As a senior, Cauvin is participating in his final high school marching season and is already sentimental about it ending.

“It is just so much work,” Cauvin said, “But I’ll definitely miss it.