The final bell rings, marking the end of another school day. Many students’ thoughts are focused on going home to relax, but members of the Westwood Band are in a completely different mindset: they have a performance to prepare for. Whether for a football game or a competition, band students have a packed schedule from 4:20 to performance time.

“I’m usually tired from a long day at school, but I’m still excited to perform,” Naomi Hansen ‘27 said.

After leaving class, band members trickle into the cafeteria where parent volunteers hand them the catered dinner of the evening. As they finish eating with their friends or instrument sections, it’s time to get dressed and ready into performance attire.

“When we have an after school football game, the flutes always put on colorful eyeliner after we put our bibbers on,” Rachel Zhu ‘26 said.

When it’s call time, the directors allow the student-run officer team to present awards for outstanding individuals for that week, followed by a short skit. The skits are a long-running tradition, cherished by students in the program.

“The vice president writes all the skits and then the rest of the officer team makes any edits or tweaks when we run through them,” Amelia Nuccitelli ‘27 said. “It’s a fun tradition, and the skits are funny and enjoyable.”

After the awards and skits are finished, the band loads onto the buses in their instrument sections and heads to the stadium. On the buses and at football games, each section has its own traditions, varying from candy-filled pillowcases to choreography in the stands.

“[The mello’s] big bus tradition is Sheila. It’s a big purple pillowcase we fill with candy and pass around as we’re heading to every football game,” Sam Fowler ‘25 said. “[At the game,] we do stand dances. They are something that I personally really enjoy because it gives me a chance to not take myself too seriously and just have fun.”

On a competition day, when the students get off the buses, they immediately form into section circles to get focused and energized for the upcoming performance. Each section has its own way of uniting together to motivate each other and get ready to do their best.

“In [the clarinet] circle, we’ll do this thing called ‘happies and crappies’ where people can say one happy thing that happened that week and one bad thing,” Eileen Wu ‘26 said. “Then, one of the section leaders will give a motivational speech and we’ll sacrifice a reed in the center of the circle. It gives us one final silly boost of energy.”

Once the sections finish their pep talks and pre-performance rituals, the band does a warm-up involving stretching, movement exercises, and hitting show chunks. It’s the time when the band focuses on the task ahead: the performance.

“When I perform I always seem to get a little nervous,” Javi Correa ‘28 said. “Although, when I am performing alongside more than 150 other people it soothes me down a little and I get a lot more excited about the performances. I love to showcase things we work on.”

Finally, the band exits the field, hopeful and determined to make each performance better than the last and show what their motto, ‘Pride, Passion, and Family’, truly means.