Sixteen and a half hours!

Brooklynn on the podium directing the band.

Brooklynn in the ready stance as the band is announced.

Brooklynn with one of the other drum majors, Dominic after a performance.

A beautiful smile in the crowd!

Let the show begin, the drum major is ready!

Brooklynn is a girl on the go! Her life right now is all about marching band. A couple weekends ago it was sixteen and a half hours of marching band! Due to Hurricane Ike and the need to reschedule football games and competitions, the MRHS marching band ended up with a performance at 9:30a.m. in Katy, a competiton in Conroe (about 60 miles from Katy) at 1:30p.m. and a football game back in Katy at 7:00p.m. Brooklynn was gone all day! Last weekend it was the region marching competition from 7:00a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and yesterday it was the homecoming game with band committments from 9:00a.m. until 4:00p.m. You get the idea!!

It has been amazing to watch Brooklynn's dedication to marching band. Marching band in Texas is serious stuff! Brooklynn begins practice early in August and practices some days during the summer for as much as 12 hours. I don't know how they survive the brutal Texas sun, but they do and slowly an amazing marching show begins to take shape. Because she plays the oboe and english horn, neither of which are played in the marching band, Brooklynn has had the opportunity to give different parts of the marching band a try. Her freshman year Brooklynn played the vibraphone in the pit. Their show that year was the music of "Firebird" and by the end of the season, I was hearing it in my sleep! During her sophomore year Brooklynn approached her band director about forming a cymbal line (something the band had never had due to lower numbers). Brooklynn became the cymbal line captain and spent hours studying video clips on the internet in order to develop a creative routine for the cymbal line. She did a fabulous job! The cymbal line added a great visual element to their show called "Minimally Speaking" that year.

Last spring Brooklynn decided to try out for the position of drum major for the 2008-2009 school year. She was very excited and honored to be chosen as head drum major! Brooklynn has learned so much about leadership through this position...the good and the bad! Under her direction, over 100 band members perform their 10 minute show called "Twisted" each week which is a medley of music from movies written by Alfred Hitchcock. This year was a state competition year and after a "1" rating at area, they were able to move on to the region competiton. They did not advance to the state competition but they did place higher than they have in past years. We are so proud of their efforts!

I love watching Brooklynn in her element! She is very focused when it's time to perform on the field and she has so much fun when it is time to perform in the stands. She is a great asset to the MRHS band and is learning many life lessons along the way!