As the weather gets colder, the band marches to an end of their season, and, as schedules free from 8 hours of practice,  students fill their time with friends, work, or more band.

“I love band, but I’m glad it’s over,” sophomore Fernando Davila said, “It’s all consuming and I couldn’t really do much besides band. I’m able to do soccer now, and write music and see friends…I missed that.”

While some students take the time of band as a ability to go out and have fun full-time, others use this time to find work or catch up on it.

“The free time is 100% going towards getting a job and focusing on grades,” senior Becky Pollock said, “I was never able to work during the marching season, and I think that it’s an important thing- along with grades- so thats what i’ve been up to.”

However, for some students the end of marching season doesn’t mean the end of band. Competitions continue and band kids practice harder than ever.

“Band doesn’t end for most of us,” Senior Taylor Oxley said. “We have region band, all state, and concert season. And even though the practice schedules aren’t as crazy, I’m just as busy with everything else. Days that were competitions, for example, are just me trying to catch up on homework and keeping my grades up.”

 Band is always busy and the directors ensure this, so that they can keep the program running.

“People often think that once marching season ends, the band just shuts down, but that’s not true,” Band Director Jordan Stern said, “Band is a year round thing for most students. Between concerts and things like region, our program never stops, and I think it’s a great thing.”