As she walked out for her first performance alongside the high schoolers, eighth grader Alondra Elizondo kept telling herself that it was going to be okay.

“I was nervous,” Elizondo said. “But once we got on the field I was perfectly fine.”

For three years now, select middle schoolers have been able to join SHS students in the marching band, and they have said that joining has helped them grow their musical abilities.

Band director Jeffrey Maupin says that the middle schoolers who are offered the opportunity to join the marching band are some of the more advanced students. He also stated that it’s an opportunity for them to push themselves and get to know the SHS program before they start high school.

“We want to make sure that with the middle schoolers, we’re selecting students that are mature enough and able to handle the marching band thing,” Maupin said.

Students have joined the marching band for multiple reasons, such as having a passion for music, wanting to follow in a relative’s footsteps, thinking it would be a cool experience and even getting inspired by one of the marching band’s performances.

However, other students, such as freshman Dakota Keen, joined because they wanted to try something new.

Though some students stated that they were nervous about joining the high schoolers in marching band, Keen stated that she wasn’t since her friends had joined alongside her.

Moreover, students have said that the marching band will help them or has helped them with their musical abilities in various ways. Students such as freshman Quinn Wright believe this program has helped their with coordination, and Keen also believes to have improved her playing ability.

“I think my counting and … my rhythm overall has gotten a lot better because of marching band,” freshman Chris Tran said.

Even with their growing abilities and the belief from staff that they are mature enough to handle it, students have sa

id that they still felt nervous during performances. However, it subsided either before or after the performance.

Many of the concerns middle schoolers had when joining high schoolers arises from their fear of judgment from their older peers. They were nervous the older high schoolers would not accept them due to their age, and they feared the high schoolers would undermine their musical abilities.

However, they were soon proven wrong by the high schoolers. Eighth grader Barrett Shroyer claims that the high schoolers had a welcoming and accepting demeanor, showing kindness and opening to help others when needed.

Although many students who started during their middle school years were nervous about jo

ining a crowd of high school students, they soon adapted to the situation and realized that most high schoolers were just like them.

Shroyer says that as the season progres

Despite the initial nervousness of some students, some have said that they’ve enjoyed being a part of the marching band, with Shroyer saying that it turned out amazing.

With the consistency of performing so often, many students have become very comfortable with being on the fie

sed, her nervousness got better, and she had gotten used to it, since performances happened every weekend for about a month.

ld, so their confidence has grown a lot.

“I’d just say to join marching band if you want a new experience in music,” Tran said. “If you’re in something music-related right now, and you’re not in marching band, I’d say give it a try.”