High schools offer many different extracurricular activities to help engage students in the “High School Experience,” and Greenwood High School is no different. One of the organizations that is most prominent in high schools across the country is band. Most students are aware of the band’s existence but are unaware of the work and effort that goes into their performances.  A strong proponent of this idea is one of the band’s conductors, Beatrice Dougherty (12th). She has been in the Greenwood/Drakes Creek school band “Since the eighth grade, so this is my fifth year.” At the beginning of this year she became a drum major/field commander/conductor by auditioning, but, as she says with a laugh, “No one else stepped up, so I won by default.” However, a win is a win and she is now an authoritative figure within the band.

The band made an amazing first impression as a dedicated and kind group. Before the practice began, they were all full of energy and very friendly; asking questions about journalism and wishing me luck in my picture-taking endeavors. As soon as practice began they became extremely focused on the current piece which I was told was for an upcoming competition. 

While walking around and getting a tour of the groups practicing, the color guard was in the area right outside the auditorium entrance. They are a smaller group within the band that carry their flags with confidence and precision. Inside the auditorium is the temporary practice area for the brass and woodwind sections of the band during this practice. They were in the middle of getting a pep talk from Nick Collar and snapped back to work after he finished his speech. 

The brass and woodwind sections graciously allowed me to get a photo with both sections together. Near the end of the practice, the percussion section was in the main band room to the right of the auditorium. The group was already practicing before their conductor had come in, showing dedication to their craft. Dougherty called attention to the front and explained what piece the section would be practicing. They immediately went into formation. 

They hit each note passionately and in sync with one another. Once the first part of the piece concluded, their field commander gave some slight corrections and instructions to the group before allowing them to practice on their own again. This job doesn’t come without its challenges. Dougherty claims, “It is hard to give corrections and be taken seriously because we are friends,” due to her prior experience as a peer in the group. However, she clarifies that this has not been a major problem, and based on how today’s practice has transpired, it does not look like it will. Before the end of the day and their practice, I asked what she would want to say to anyone thinking of joining the Greenwood band. She explained with confidence that anyone thinking of joining should just go for it because “Worst case scenario you don’t like it one year and you never have to do it again, but in almost every case you join and you make the closest friends you’ve ever had and you make life long memories.”