Over the summer, OH marching band students worked hard to put together “The Queens Revenge,” their 2026 show, showcasing hard work and dedication. And this Saturday, they will showcase their talents at competition.
“Two weeks before school starts, we do two full weeks of eight am to five pm, Monday through Friday,” OH Band Director Stephanie San Roman said.
OH members dedicate time and effort in their performances. They work together as a team for a successful show, with long practices, new skills, putting together different talents, and communicating with one another.
The team works throughout summer and the school year leading up to competitions on Sept. 26, Oct. 3, and Oct. 17.
“We’ll spend a good four hours learning the movements on the field, break for lunch, then two hours of music time in the afternoon, followed by another two hours of putting the music and movement’s together,” San Roman added.
It is physically demanding with the summer heat, long hours, and heavy instruments.
“During the summer I would typically spend six to seven out of the nine hours standing, and two hours outside of school time practicing,” OH sophomore bass player Bella Dauderman said.
The OH band leaders makes sure to assist members, check that everything is running smoothly, work on setting equipment up, all of this on top of making sure their part in the band is up to standard.
OH senior drum major Leo Leigh puts in a lot of work behind the scenes.
“I arrive an hour before we get started, fill the water jugs up, set up the front and back fields, and the sound systems,” said Leigh.
There is a lot that goes into the performance and everyone works hard together to put on the show.
“I feel like respect is really the basis for everything that we do,” Leigh said.
Spending hundreds of hours practicing for the performance takes a lot of dedication and wouldn’t be possible without working together, and being able to rely on peers. With 135 students in the OH marching band, it builds structure and accountability.
“It’s really important to hold yourself accountable, because you’re not letting yourself down, you’re letting your entire team down,” senior Winds Section Leader Hannah Eminger said.
Throughout the school year, the OH band adds to the show before heading to competition., they continue to practicing and perfecting, so by the time competition comes around everyone, is confident since it’s not the home stadium.
“We start adding more visuals, more props, and costuming pieces. So we build it up as much as we can before going into the competitions,” San Roman said.
OH students practice non-stop leading up to competition, they take it bit-by-bit, until they have it perfected.
“The most difficult part about practice is the amount of times we would do something, like repeat the same section over and over to perfect it,” Dauderman said.
But practice usually makes perfect, and the band is counting on that for the start to competition season Saturday and their regular Friday night football game performances.
Hello, my name is Ashley Dauderman, I'm a senior at Oswego High School. This is my first year on the 42Fifty staff, proudly serving as a staff reporter! You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
