COVID-19 forces a different type of Band Camp experience
Marshall High School’s Marching Band held its annual August camp, but at a distance.
Every year, during the first week of August, the Marshall High School Marching Band Camp is held, a sure sign that fall sports practices are a week away and that the start of school is just around the corner.
This year, however, Band Camp took on added significance as the first group event of the 2020-21 school year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
No decision has been made yet by the Marshall Public Schools Board of Education, but that is expected to change during its meeting Aug. 10 where the Board will approve a plan for the upcoming school year.
A virtual option for the first semester has been offered to all students and MPS has supplied each student with a laptop.
A proposal the Board will consider on the 10th is to have K-5 students go four days a week in-person with online on Wednesdays, while grades 6-12 would be in school two days a week with three days online.
During Band Camp last week, Band Director Jeremy Root spoke to the students about the challenges this fall will bring, but also noted his happiness to have some semblance of normal in having a music rehearsal with students for the first time in five months.
“I was really excited to be working with the students,” said Root. “Last year was full of challenges. It is hard to remember that the 2019 marching band season was impacted tremendously by the EEE precautions that schools were taking. We weren't able to have any Monday evening rehearsals for most of the football season, which cut out a significant amount of our rehearsal time.
“Now, in planning for this year's camp, the reality is that these students haven't participated in a music rehearsal since March. That's a long time. I think I can speak for teachers everywhere when I say that one of the hardest challenges of how last year ended was how we missed being around the students. So, I'm excited to see them, and I hope that they are excited to get together and play some music.”
This year’s Band Camp was been scaled way back, said Root, to adhere to state executive orders and mandates surrounding COVID-19.
“To give some perspective, in a normal band camp, a student experiences 52 hours of rehearsal time,” said Root. “In this year's camp, each student experienced five hours.”
The band was split into to groups with each group participating two days for two and a half hours each day.
Percussion players were the only group to be there all four days and practiced on their own.
“We came up with this schedule because our band is too large to space out with everyone there,” said Root. “It was a challenge to rehearse the students without everyone there at the same time, but we learned to adapt. Obviously, we had to scale back what we expect the students to learn at camp since they are rehearsing less than 10% of the time that they would at a normal camp.”
Safety, added Root, was the number one priority at this year's camp. The entire camp was held outdoors with students spaced 7 1/2 feet apart.
“Students and their families made special ‘bell covers’ that helped reduce aerosol transmission and the kids wore masks when they weren’t playing their brass or woodwind instruments,” said Root. “All staff wore masks at all times. Students and staff filled out a medical screening form each morning before arriving at camp.”
Last week band members worked on this season’s halftime show, the music of Aretha Franklin with songs Think, Respect, I Say a Little Prayer and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
This year’s drum majors are Jaylyn Jones, Mary Kurtz and Isaac Culp. They each participated in a virtual leadership camp this summer with Dr. David Montgomery, former director of the Western Michigan University Bronco Marching Band and current professor of Music Education at Baylor University.
Because of the reduced hours of Band Camp and uncertainty of having the entire band practice at the same time, Root said this year’s show will not feature a marching drill on the field.
Not surprisingly, he added that this year’s Band Camp was the most unusual he has been a part of.
“These last few months have caused everyone in education to examine what we do through a different lens,” he said. “At this year's camp there were no meals, no skit night, no Wednesday afternoon at Eagle Lake, and no ice cream treats at night. But, as in life, you can look at the bad and complain about the things you want to do that you aren't able to do, or you can choose to make the best out of the situation you find yourself in. That's a message that I hoped I imparted on the band students this week. The students rose to the challenge like they always have.”



