No pressure! Dedication, hard work key to Lewis Cass band legacy

Jul. 9—The reminders are everywhere in the Lewis Cass High School band room: excellence.

Trophies are stacked on shelves along the front wall. Plaques line the sides and posters of state championship rings hang like tempting beacons — work hard and this could be yours.

Lewis Cass is looking for a 40th trip to the marching band state finals. The journey starts now, during band camp, in the July heat and a nearly empty high school.

"For our marching band show we have to start somewhere," said band director Alan Hinshaw. "We have to learn as much of the show as we can. During the school year we do not practice very much in the evening. We have one rehearsal with the full group a couple of hours a week. So the summer allows us time to learn most of the show."

Week one of the Lewis Cass band camp began with a two hour session on July 4. They then went to full day workouts. The band will take a break from July 11-15 and start week two on July 18. And that's it.

From there the band will rehearse once a week during the school year and depend on the band members to practice on their own time.

Excellence takes dedication. The Lewis Cass band is dedicated.

During band camp, the focus is learning all the movements (the drill) and figuring out where each person needs to go, memorizing the music and then putting it all together.

"So the goal is to get through as much marching and music as we can in the summer and then when we get back during the school year it's kind of just review and cleaning the process up for competitions," said Hinshaw.

It's not all work during these summer sessions. Hinshaw credited the group's new drum majors, Brooke Whitney and Lauren Johnson, for bringing some fun and games into the mix.

"These drum majors are really gung-ho about having fun and wanting this to be an enjoyable time and for everybody to kind of bond together," he said. "I'm so proud of our leadership this year for coming up with things like that."

Whitney and Johnson have organized water balloon fights, incentives for hard work like pies to a director's face and dress up days. Friday was mismatched clothing.

But there is also a lot of leadership involved as a drum major. The two young women conduct the music, keep tempo, come in early to set up each day's session and coach the other students through warm ups.

"They are very driven and they will do anything we ask them to do," Whitney said of her peers. "We really appreciate that from them. They are a really good group to work with this year."

Miki Klute, a senior leader in the percussion section, said she was seeing a lot of progress from the young members. There has been a stress on discipline, learning how to practice music the correct way. At the same time, the seniors are leaning what it takes to be a leader.

There's also another aspect at play in terms of physical conditioning. Being part of a marching band is not easy work.

"We do conditioning so we can withstand a 10 to 12 minute show," said Luke Masters, a member of the color guard. "Especially horn line, who are blowing air into an instrument. We all do stamina training. We run laps, we do jumping jacks, all sort of things."

He said the band was exhausted after a week of practice, but exhausted in a good way.

"We push ourselves a lot," he said. "I feel like being exhausted at the end of a band camp week is a really good thing because it shows that you've gotten a lot done."

But what about that legacy of excellence? Does it hang heavy over band members old and new?

Johnson said there is not so much pressure but more a drive to keep the legacy alive.

"I'm very proud of the group we have," she said. "They are very experienced and very talented and I feel like we can sustain that legacy."

Kyla Valdez, a color guard leader alongside Masters, tries to remind the newcomers of the high standards but not in a way that is overbearing.

"We are trying to do little bits at a time to help them learn the basics of band etiquette," she said. "Being on time, saying what chart we are going to when drum majors call out the charts. Just being ready for anything and everything. Just paying attention and working."

"My philosophy personally is to make them as good as they can be at music and marching and kind of just put them in the conversation—'that is a great band! That is a great group!' every year," Hinshaw said. "They love the competition. They love going for it."

With just around 60 members, Lewis Cass is one of the smaller bands in the state. But preparation makes up for that. With only one official practice a week during the school year, and two weeks of camp in the summer, that means a lot of the excellence the band has become known for is due directly to how dedicated the students are in crafting their skills outside of the school setting.

"Even though we are a smaller band we still have the presence and power of a larger band because the individuals in the band are able to produce that demeanor," Johnson said.

Hinshaw said the students' dedication and hard work is what pushes the legacy onward.

"When their goals are not to win but to continue the legacy of the program, that's why they are winning state competitions," he said. "They are getting the all-music award from ISSMA (Indiana State School Music Association). They are getting gold ratings in jazz band, concert band, solo and ensemble. It's still a successful program because of them. That's what I'm proud of. They are so dedicated."

The band will end camp with a community preview night on July 22, from 6 until 8:30 p.m. The performance begins at 7 p.m. at the Lewis Cass Jr.-Sr. High School, 6422 IN-218.