TCHS Band Marches On Through Pandemic

NORTHPORT, AL. — It's just after sunrise on the Tuscaloosa County High School Band practice field, with the new day being greeted by the sound of music and chatter of teenagers. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the outfit of nearly 200 students and their instructors has made the most of an unprecedented situation.

"It's kind of forced us to come closer together, even though we’re six feet apart," said Senior Drum Major Julia Dominguez, who is in her second year as the band's drum major.

A year of leadership under her belt prepared her to be a comforting presence for the students around her during the pandemic, but she told Patch on Friday that the positive atmosphere and attitude on display Friday morning was also the result of a family approach adopted by the entire group.

"There are so many changes within the band," she explained. "It's all about keeping them encouraged and everyone is scared of getting COVID, so it’s really [important] just comforting them in a way that really shows that family aspect. You have to be there for them, comforting them in ways that we wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t like this."

The TCHS Band's camp kicked off this week after putting in the work for two weeks in July. The July sessions, due to the rising number of new local cases and looming uncertainty, were unlike any in the school's history prior.

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"Just to meet COVID protocol, we actually did half the band," said Assistant Band Director Emily Gray, who also serves as percussion director. "So one day you would have auxiliary and woodwinds and the next day you would have brass and percussion showing up, which we’ve never done before. I think all the teachers in the area are going to have to go off a traditional format but we made it work and the kids learned a lot."

Dominguez said the return to camp was needed for so many as interpersonal relationships and human contact have seen protracted limitations since the demise of many facets of the last school year during the pandemic's onset.

That human connection, she said, is so necessary for the large group, which changed drastically once mandates forced many to stay home.

"In the beginning of quarantine, it was just people going virtual and what not, so being out with basically your family and working hard and sweating through the hot days going through music, teaching fundamentals, it has truly been a game-changer and connected us in a way that I don’t think we could have been connected if it weren’t for this," she said. "It is quite amazing to see that through all of the changes, that we have seen the students thrive and succeed, not just come in and give their bare minimum. They’ve been on top of their game and it’s been amazing."

Gray said the August camp allowed for the return of the entire band, which is made up of 160 woodwinds and percussionists, in addition to approximately 30 auxiliary members.

"Now we’ve been allowed to have all the kids as long as we still mask up and follow social distancing," she said. "In that small amount of time during July, we put all of the pre-game on, so that was five days of learning that and in the August camp we’ve got right now, just in two days we have half of our show already on."

This year's show is titled "Rebellious Rock," featuring tunes like "School's Out" by Alice Cooper and "Ain't Nothing Wrong with That" by Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

Gray then spoke to the challenges brought on by the pandemic in preparation of camp and football season. In her five years of experience, she's never faced so many logistical hurdles.

She then pointed to several blue masks sporting the school colors being worn by band members as an example of the program's nuanced approach.

"Never have I ever had to put a purchase order in for 300 or 400 masks and with branding, you want to get your brand on there, so it says TC Band," she laughed.

Band members could also be seen with black water bottle holders marked with the school insignia, which were provided in an effort to further promote social distancing during outdoor practices.

"Protocols also include social distancing as much as we can, wearing masks whenever possible," Gray said. "Typically, we practice as a full group, so we’ll break at 10:30 and go inside and you would have 160-180 kids right on top of each other. We can’t do that right now, so we’re broken into smaller groups, which has caused us to call on a few more instructors than we normally would have had in the past."

The hopes of many are riding on a high school football season, as uncertainty over fall sports persists across the country. With no set competition schedule, the season represents the band's primary opportunity to perform for large audiences and in other venues.

"Our particular band has not competed in the last couple years and it's something we would like to see in the future," Gray said. "But I know from personal experience, most of the other competitions won’t even be continuing this year because logistically, it's just too much.

"As far as football is concerned," she added. "We’re getting ready for our first football game and there’s still questions we have to answer, like how do you seat a band in the stands and follow social protocol? I'm sure that our administration will figure it out and give us answers and we’ll do what we can up until they tell us to do otherwise."

The assistant band director, who could be seen buzzing around the practice field directing students, also had high praise for the level of communication provided by TCHS administrators and the county school system, as well as the support shown by parents and the community.

"I think they’ve done their absolute best to give us information when they can, but unfortunately as with everything else we’ve seen, everything changes day to day," she said. "You can come up with a plan A-through-Z today and that plan will have to be amended the next day."

Looking ahead to what promises to be the most unorthodox year in the band's history, Gray said it was important to realize the sacrifices made by those in the band, who previously lost invaluable performance hours and time with their peers.

She said the students, even last year, were set to attend "Music for All" at the end of the spring semester, which is a southeastern regional concert competition that the TCHS Band had received a distinction for.

"They didn’t get to go do that, and they also got superior ratings at their music performance assessment, which is a state rating and that was again kind of squandered at the end [of the spring semester]," Gray said. "So even with all of these trials and tribulations, our kids are still working their butts off to still put on something of quality. The ability to rise over adversity has been awesome to see."

This article originally appeared on the Tuscaloosa Patch