A Rocky Run at Regionals

This week, spirits were running high for the Spirit of Woodlan. The band and guard had their best performance of the season last weekend at the ISSMA Invitational at Homestead. There was excitement in the air for Regionals this weekend, and the students were ready to dominate the competition at Regionals. It was a short school week for the students, as they had a long Fall Break weekend. The band room decorations this week really leveled up, and everyone was very excited to see the section posters hanging around the room. As always, Sarah Gunder did an amazing job with the posters, and everyone loved them!

On Tuesday evening, the students learned new visuals for Parts 1 and 2. The band was scheduled to practice from 8a-12pm on Friday, as they had the day off from school. Unfortunately, rain prevented the band from practicing outside on Thursday evening and on Friday.

The band had an early arrival on Saturday morning, meeting to load buses at 6:30am. They enjoyed a donut breakfast before heading to the buses. After a 2.5-hour bus ride, they arrived at Chesterton High School ready for the ISSMA Regionals Competition. It was a cold day, the chilliest of the season so far, and windy as well. For lunch, they had pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad, chips, and cookies. Several creative students apparently decided to make pulled pork sandwiches with the leftover donuts and Uncrustables as well! They were happy to be able to eat inside the school’s cafeteria since they were all so cold. Soon, it was time to change into uniforms and warm up.

It was an early morning start this weekend!

The students enjoying lunch together inside the school's cafeteria.

These kids had an intense game of card hockey going on... using a school ID badge!

Us band moms love to bling out with the Cleopatra jewelry... stay tuned for more!

Time to get ready!

Our fearless leader, Mr. Slattery

After watching another school’s props blow over onto a row of parked cars, our Pit Crew was happy with the last-minute decision to add extra weight to the columns for the field so they would not blow over as well! This week, the shiny new gold throne was added to the set, complete with Egyptian hieroglyphs and amazing black Egyptian cats. It is gorgeous!

After warm up, the Spirit of Woodlan took the field for Regionals competition. This weekend, we came onto the field from the opposite direction from all the previous weekends. Their Cleopatra show is gorgeous musically and aesthetically. Unfortunately, most of the students felt it was not their greatest performance, and were disappointed afterwards. For many, this week’s performance just felt “off”. The Awards ceremony confirmed that feeling. The students were very relieved to receive a Gold Rating, however, they were not awarded any distinctions this week. Most importantly, everyone was relieved to be named among the bands that will move on to ISSMA Open Class D Semi-State Competition on Saturday, October 30, 2021 at Franklin Community High School. The band will perform at 4:30pm with awards scheduled for 7pm.

Our Regional award is missing the plaque that reads "Gold Rating" like the one behind it from the ISSMA Invitational last week, though Spirit of Woodlan did earn the Gold Rating at Regionals. It was an off week for sure!

After this humbling weekend, the band will return to practice tomorrow evening with a renewed sense of determination and dedication. They all know that they have the ability to put on an awesome performance and be a contender for the State Finals Competition in three weeks, if only they put the hard work and effort in. First though, they will be hosting a Community Performance at Woodlan High School this Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 3pm. We hope you will bring your family and friends to see these amazing kids in action! They will do two full performances of their show, and a free meal of hot dogs, chips, cookies, and brownies will be provided. We hope to see you there!