The Stressful Climb Back Up

This past Saturday, October 23, 2021, the band and guard suited up for a big performance, but this week, the audience was the Woodlan community. Spirit of Woodlan hosted a Community Performance and served a meal to their supporters that included hot dogs, chips, cookies, and brownies. In many ways, this was a big show for them. Nerves had definitely been rattled by their less-than-desirable performance at Regionals competition last weekend. They worked hard this past week at practice to clean up their mistakes and to put on a performance that they would be proud of.

At the Community Performance, the Spirit of Woodlan performed their full show twice for the crowd. Several of us parents on the Pit Crew noted how nice it was to be able to sit in the stands and watch the show for once; it’s a totally different show sitting in the stands than down on the track! It was really neat to be able to see the formations, rotations, and to hear the blend of the music rather than just the particular sections that were right in front of us at the time. The air was chilly, but it was a pretty lovely day for the performance on the football field. The sun even decided to come out during the second run-through. It was so heart-warming to see so many family members and friends show up to offer their support to these awesome kids. Thank you to ALL of you that took time out of your weekend to come cheer them on!

Spirit of Woodlan seniors

Olivia is READY for her solo!

Pit Crew Column Moms - we decided to have fun with makeup and Egyptian jewelry!

After the performance, many of the students felt much better about their performance than the previous week. A lot of the visuals were practiced and perfected, and they felt a return of some of the confidence in themselves they had after their performance at the ISSMA Invitational at Homestead. I believe there was a collective sigh of relief in that this weekend’s show was much better and more on par with what they are capable of.

However, there is much work still to do. They will return to practice this week with a little confidence renewed in themselves, but also with a whole lot of nerves for their upcoming performance at Semi-State competition this weekend. On Saturday, October 30, 2021, the Spirit of Woodlan will be performing their show at ISSMA Semi-State competition at Franklin Community High School at 4:30pm. Then, we will all wait anxiously, biting our nails, sitting at the edge of our seats impatiently, for awards at 7pm.

These kids have worked so hard, for so many hours and days and weeks and months, for this performance. It would be awesome if you can come down to Franklin Community High School this weekend and cheer them on! Not just a few little claps, though…. Come down and scream your head off and help them smile inside, with renewed confidence, knowing their family and friends are there for them. They will hold their chins a little higher, pull their shoulders back a little further, point their toes a little sharper, and play their music like they never have before!!! Good luck this weekend at Semi-State, Spirit of Woodlan!!! WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Photo Credits: Closeup photos by Sarah Gunder