by Sage Kluge
Color Guard gained popularity in the ‘70s and ‘80s with schools and drum corps. It’s become more and more popular at our school and around the world. The color guard at our school marches with the band during their competition season. Our school’s color guard has a total of 7 people.
Captain Abby Rowe said “Color guard tends to keep a positive attitude. We love to hype each other up with compliments and jokes. Generally, we just want to have fun while doing something we love.”
The guard captains are Abby Rowe and Violeta Mendez. Abby has been a part of color guard for the past five years and has been captain for the past two years. Mendez has been a part of guard for four years and captain for one.
“The captains use rifles and flags instead of just using flags like the other members because they are more experienced and advanced in this activity,” said Violeta. The guard is a part of the marching band. We join them in the parades and in the marching show for our competition season,” said Mendez.
Guard rehearses with the band after school in the back of the middle school. Schlimpert stated, “We get in a block for stretching and warm-ups. Depending on the day we work on the routine or practice our sets, which are how we know where to go on the field during the show.”
While the band plays through the music and set drill on the field, the guard members follow along to make the show come together.
“If need be, we will run chunks of the routine just to fix and clean the work. Other than that, we are outside with the band either running the show or setting drill,” said Rowe.
Mendez mentioned that for the parades in the summertime, the guard has routines for the tunes that the band plays. They use their flags for certain times in songs and dance moves for other times.
“The guard also has practices during the winter time to improve their technique and spins,” said Schlimpert.
“Being in guard isn’t just about tossing a flag in the air and hoping to achieve greatness, it’s about determination and dedication, and not everyone is going to get it on the first try. That’s what the winter practices are for,” Schlimpert added.