July 28, 2015
MARSHALL NEWS MESSENGER (7/28/15) - With most East Texas students returning to school in less than a month, athletics and extra curricular teams are jumping back into the swing of things with two-a-day practices, rehearsals and camps.
The same is true for nearby districts Harleton, Beckville and Ore City ISDs this week as they bunk down at East Texas Baptist University for band camp.
"We'll be here until Friday," Harleton ISD band director Hunter Barrett said Monday. "This is our first time meeting as a full band this year."
Barrett said the district brought about 75 students ranging from eighth through twelfth grades to the camp.
"We're working on our show music and we'll be doing some marching too."
For incoming eighth graders, this is the first time for many of them to march.
"Everything we're learning is for the half-time shows," Barrett said, whose band is a military style.
The students divided up into instrument sections for practice on Monday with of the school's percussionists getting some tips from instructors and ETBU music students Chases Staggers and Zack Rogers.
"We're working on some cadences and marches," Rogers said Monday. "We're working on fundamentals, pop tunes and stand tunes. This is that big drum sound you hear in the stands."
Beckville ISD brought about 61 students to the camp, also ranging from the eighth to twelfth grade.
The students were practicing together as a group, learning music on Monday inside the university's Ornelas Spiritual Life Center.
The bands will perform throughout football season during games and half-time before participating in UIL marching contest and solo and ensemble competitions in the spring.