Chapter 1: Box 1

Marching Band- Rituals: Senior speeches at end of marching season, hold hats up in the air if the last performance was our best; Insider Phrases: "Reset" "Okay guys, one more time" "Set!" Behaviors: Understanding of taking directions from those in charge, "crunking" our hats, always help those who are having trouble, goofing off whenever possible.

Drama- Rituals: Funny awards for each person for every show, actors ticking off the tech crew, flowers for the directors on the last performance of the show, gifts for graduating seniors. Insider Phrases: "Face the audience!" "Cut!" "Bring out the understudy!" Behaviors: High tensions between the actors and the tech crew, cliques within the actors, bad talking other members behind their backs (a whole lot of drama in Drama).

Marching Band has always been a big family. Sure there are lots of different sections with all their quirks, like the clarinets being wacky and friendly or the drum line always making up only the most immature jokes. The entire group all gets along though. It would be nearly impossible to create a marching band show if it didn't. Band members spend the entire summer and the first eight weeks of school together and if they didn't get along, everything would be quite hectic.

The summer begins with learning the music of the show for that year. Members are split into individual sections where they can learn their part with those who play the same instrument. Every section often has its own reserved spot, such as the alto saxophones using the hallway connecting to the pool. After sectional time the groups come back together to form large sections of winds, drum line, and pit. Eventually, the entire band has all the music memorized. During this ongoing process, the band is also learning how to march the show.

Under the hot Indiana sun, the band uses paint markers to mark individual spots for each set on an empty parking lot. A set is a movement from one point to the next. All these sets come together to form an entire show. During this process, the band director often calls "reset" to tell the band to go back to the last set accompanied by the words "one more time" which almost always guarantees that the band will have to repeat the last set at least three more times. Towards the end of the summer, the members begin playing their memorized music while marching the sets. Once the entire show has been memorized, and all the major mistakes cleaned, the show is ready for performance.