Band marches their way to visual camp
Since late June to the week leading up to school, band and color guard have been busy with band camp rehearsals to prepare for their fall show, “A Common Thread.” In addition to preparing for their show, band camp aims to create a tight knit community among students through team building activities and socials.
April 5, 2023
Hitting the pause button on music, the Redhawks marching band is taking a brief break from music starting on Thursday as they launch visual camps in order to begin preparations for next year’s marching season.
“We will have all of the rising freshmen and current Liberty students stay after school for a couple of hours each week where we will break down the fundamentals of how to look during marching,” assistant director of bands Cecily Yoakam said. “It helps ease the eighth graders into marching band and high school while preparing them also for what to expect during summer band.”
The camp aims to teach both new and returning members of the band the fundamental skills of marching, as well as encourage the different instrument sections to get to know any new members.
“Visual camps gives freshmen a chance to get to know their section and meet some friends before the actual marching season starts,” sophomore Phoebe Atchley said. “It teaches and refreshes the incoming and current band students the basics and fundamentals of marching and what to expect in August, which gives us a really good head start into the season.”
By being taught the basics of marching and getting to know members of their section, the visual camps help future freshmen make the transition from middle school to high school.
“I think these visual camps will especially be useful for the new members because they will be able to get a hint of what the season will feel like,” sophomore Suhaib Sabir said. “It provides them an opportunity to learn, develop and improve their skills to give us a solid kickstart. It’s also a great chance for the freshmen to meet their section and to meet some new friends in band so that they can come in August, hopefully feeling more confident and comfortable.”
For Yoakam, the visual camps are also a way to get to see in a small way how the band program will look like over the next school year.
“The purpose and goal of these visual camps is to prepare everyone for marching band in the fall,” Yoakam said. “It gives all students an opportunity to re-learn how to march with proper technique and for us to see what next year’s marching band will look like.”
