As students and teachers savor the last bit of their summer vacations, many marching band students and staff across the state brave the heat and return to campus early to prepare for the school year during band camp.

“Band camp sets the tone for the rest of the school year,” said Jordan Ballenger, director of ensembles for Ayden-Grifton High School (AGHS) in Pitt County. 

Band camps are held by many school marching band programs annually. Ballenger said camp gets students ready for the physical and musical challenges of the semester, while giving them a chance to bond and get to know each other better. 

“This week is basically a test for them of endurance and dedication and fortitude, and they pull through with flying colors,” Ballenger said.

Band camp can be grueling, said AGHS marching band staff member Jackson Maas. Students and staff at AGHS work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a week. They spend time under the summer sun on the field running marching drills, reviewing color guard choreography, and repeatedly practicing their music. 

Despite how exhausting band camp can be for students and staff alike, for Maas and Ballenger, the effort is totally worth it. 

“This year, I’ve seen the leaps and bounds — that even the people that were here last year and people that are brand new this year — just within these first three and a half, four days, it has been just the most satisfying thing to see them become better as a musician, become better as people. And that’s really another main reason why I love doing this — just to see that growth in people,” Maas said. 

Students in the AGHS marching band agree. 

“Band is like an open community,” said senior Brandy Craft, the band’s drum major and a clarinet player. “We all have similar interests, and we all want to achieve the same things. So it helps people to get a different mindset coming into high school. Especially with band camp being before school, you come into school a freshman with a bunch of friends already. And it helps with transitioning, and it helps you to really open up and be yourself around people.”

Junior piccolo player and assistant drum major Tyler Tyer said the band is already showing improvements over last year.

“We’ve done a lot of work this week,” Tyer said. 

Ballenger said the AGHS band camp also has plenty of opportunities for fun, with relay races, a water balloon fight, and even a costume competition between sections of the band.

Students donned dinosaur suits, “Curious George” costumes, and M&M shirts for the contest. The woodwind section drew on fake beards and wore khaki shorts in homage to their band director, Ballenger. 

Band family

While students join band for different reasons, they all get the chance to come together to form a community with each other, united by their common goal. 

“I learned that band isn’t just because of playing an instrument,” Tyer said. “It’s also being there for your friends and making a family and a group of people that you love.”

Many students said band gives them the chance to be themselves and not feel judged. 

“Having something on the side that you’re excited for every day, and you make it into a habit — it can become something that you love and continue to do for the rest of your life,” said senior Tonaya Page, woodwinds section leader and clarinet player.

Several AGHS students plan to continue participating in band after high school. 

AGHS students said they also like participating in marching band because of the soft skills it teaches them, like teamwork, persistence, and time management.

“Time management in band is very, very important.” Page said. “We have so many events to prepare for, with not a lot of time to get everything down. So I feel like it forces you to prioritize.”

Tyer said band helps drive home the skills of collaboration and working effectively with others.

“I feel like that helps me prepare for when I get a job or something like that, because I’m going to have to work with people eventually,” Tyer said. 

Senior Jocelyn Tores, one of the captains of the band’s color guard, said “practice is always progress,” and added that band helps teach the virtue of patience.

“You’re not going to get it right off the bat, obviously, because it takes time,” Tores said. 

The lasting impacts of music education

Maas, a third-year music education major at East Carolina University, credits joining marching band in high school as possibly the best decision of his life.  

“Band kind of saved me,” Maas said. 

Maas said he planned on doing sports in high school, but an injury changed his plans. His sophomore year, he decided to join his school’s band. Those experiences made him decide he wanted to spend the rest of his life helping other students to feel passionate about music. 

“It (music) teaches all the other subjects. It teaches math, science, language, history — a lot of history, actually — and it also helps with time management, and just being able to divvy up things how you need to,” Maas said.

Maas said music presents a challenge, giving students the chance to face it head on. 

“Band and music in general will literally show you who you are as a person,” Maas said.

Ballenger participated in band as a student, and said he connected with the person who would later become his wife doing band in high school. He graduated from the University of Idaho for clarinet performance and eventually became a teacher in 2016. 

“​​I’ve been learning and growing ever since,” Ballenger said.

Last school year was his first at AGHS. Teaching music is important to him because of his love for music and the “family” it creates, he said. 

“Creating opportunities for these kids is really cool,” Ballenger said. “Because I not only create opportunities for them to play and perform, but also bond and get closer together as family.”

Ballenger said he hopes band camp is a week of character building for his students.

“The takeaway for them is the experience and the time together,” Ballenger said. “And if they made it to the end of band camp and didn’t give up, that’s a huge bonus for them. Mentally, they can say ‘I can do this.’”

Ballenger said marching band is a special part of a student’s journey as it uses the whole body and brain.

“It (marching band) covers the whole kid — covers the whole child. There’s a philosophy in education, the whole child learning,” Ballenger said. “That’s it. Marching band is it.”