OHS marching has returned with grit and passion this year. Since last year they lost their opportunities because of COVID-19, they have revived with strength and heart throbbing performances. Although, marching band only attracted a few students this year, it is not holding them back from performing with their best and ranking in the state competition.

Band has given cold shivers to OHS and every other school they have competed with so far in the year. The dedication of students and the hard work they have put in the band has rewarded them by winning 7th place in state championships in both of their divisions: Arizona marching band association and Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association. 

“I am very happy and I am very pleased with the students. They are seeing the rewards of the hard work they put in all year,” Cilone said. “It’s finally making it all worth it.”

The band is like a family. Their goal is to affect people’s positivity with music, which gives them motivation to keep going, and show everyone how great of a team they are and how talented they are.

“Just go for it, and to appreciate the little moments because taking advantage of all those funny memories or all the times the crowd is cheering for you after a performance,” said Jamie Jorgenson, senior. “You’re gonna miss it when it’s over so definitely just appreciating the moment while it’s there.”

After entering the state championship, performing at such a high level has put pressure since everyone is expecting more and more every time. This has not made them feel overworked, they are performing with all the hard work just trying to get better and stronger every single time. The OHS marching band is smaller than other schools they have competed with but that does not stop them from doing their best.

“There is a little bit of pressure but not too much, because I know that we worked really hard this past year together and we put a lot of time and effort into making this show as incredible as possible,” said Evan Knudson, sophomore. “And I know that if we just go out there and do our thing, we are going to do amazing.”

Band season is coming to an end and students and Mr. Cilone are putting all of their time into making this year one of the best years in marching band’s history. Everyone coming together like a family is making the band recover from last year with its mind-blowing performances throughout the season.

“It’s not really worth it unless we are having fun, so we just try to keep a lot of that positive energy, we were super excited to make state,” said Torryn Hatcher, junior. “So we have our semi-final in two weeks, we are all super pumped for that, we just gotta remember that it takes a lot of hard work and just pushing forward.”

Marching band has done well this season, they made an impact on this school while giving mind-blowing performances at the competition. The year gap from last year has not impacted them negatively at all, except the fact that the number of students has declined, but they still compete against the “big boy” and make a corner in everyone’s heart like a family.

“We are all just like a big family, so we are really friendly with each other and we are comfortable around each other and that just kind of motivates me to stay and try to push through,” said Chase Norton, freshmen.

OHS parents and students are really supportive towards the band, and watch them shine everyday using their musical power and talent. OHS wishes them all the best to make it to the top five in the state.

“I hear all this story of other schools that don’t have very good support for the band program and don’t have a good band booster support program and the kids sometimes don’t even show up and I am just really lucky that that doesn’t happen here,” Cilone said. “We try to put ourselves on the moto ‘the way we do anything, is the way we do everything.’”