Photo credit: Manteo High School Facebook Page

On October 5th, 2019 the Manteo Marching Redskins traveled to John A. Holmes High School for the 44th annual Peanut Festival in Edenton, NC. They competed against Gates, Hatteras, and Pasquotank as a class A band, the smallest of the competing bands. They won first place percussion, second place drum major, and third place overall. After the Edenton event, they competed in the Panther Band Classic in Pasquotank county on October 19th, 2019.

The Manteo Marching band is directed by John Weeks, who is new to Manteo High School. He graduated from East Carolina University, where he participated in the drumline for the Marching Pirates. 

“I think my favorite part about teaching music is that I get to be involved in music all day, every day,” Weeks says. He also teaches a variety of other music classes. The band’s numbers are currently small, but they are working on improving those numbers in the near future. They also plan on attending more competitions and working on their techniques as a whole. 

At the Edenton competition, the marching drumline received first place. Junior Caleb Maher, one of six drumline members, says that they were well-prepared but are always looking to improve. 

“ There were a couple of rough spots in the music for everyone in the drumline, and hopefully we can get those spots patched up and go march the rest of the show good,” says Maher. 

 The drum majors keep the tempo so that everyone is in sync. Junior Maddie Houseknecht is one of two drum majors, and she both plays in and conducts the band.

“You can compose music and make different sounds just based on how you compose it,” says Houseknecht says. The drum majors received second place at the Edenton competition, now one of Houseknecht best band memories.

One of the main attractions of a marching band is often the color guard. Their interesting choreography and swirling flags contribute to the excitement of any show. Senior Kamaaron Adams is one of six color guard members. 

“Performing is something I really like to do, so I guess just performing in front of crowds is like my favorite part,” Adams says. He adds that the color guard must memorize all the marching and choreography to put on the best show.

Marching band members must learn marching techniques, positions and patterns, choreography, and, most of all, music. Band is more than just the technical aspects, however.

“Band feels more like family–like we’re so close and we know each other so well it’s just more like a family than a group of friends or class,” says Houseknecht. 

Band is like a big family–there may be squabbles, but in the end they are all there for each other.