Although Trinity Prep’s student section may be lacking excitement, the new pep band is hoping to change that.
Organized by band teacher Erin Armstrong, Trinity’s very first pep band joins the drumline to bring a new sense of excitement and music to the football and basketball season alongside the drumline.
“[Drumlines] have their own difficulty, but it’s a different style and genre that I think the kids have been exposed to but haven’t had the chance to be a part of here at Trinity,” Armstrong said. “And so really, it’s just a fun extracurricular ensemble.”
Armstrong has been coordinating with the drumline coach, Mike Rogers, to work school events like pep rallies and football games.
“We sort of last minute in terms of putting some things together, but Armstrong and I had, a few months ago, kind of deciding some of the songs that we would do,” Rogers said. “Her getting the charts and working with her kids, me working with my kids separately. And then the week before homecoming, we got the two groups together for just one practice.”
Unlike the drumline, the pep band hopes to play more modern and upbeat songs.
“And we’re playing stuff that people in the stands at the games here, and they’re like, oh, my gosh, that’s so cool that they’re playing,” Armstrong said. “That’s just something that gets people excited.”
Even though they only had a short amount of time to practice for the second pep rally of the year, pep band member 7th grader Norman Ritterbusch enjoyed playing.
“It was a lot of fun, but it felt like there was an earthquake behind [me],” Ritterbusch said.
Fellow pep band member Sam Sickler shares how the football games can be more stressful than pep rallies.
“Normally at pep rallies we have less time to play,” Sickler said. “Since there’s more stuff going on. But homecoming games, it’s like you have to be on your feet. You have to know when to play. You have to be able to look and see what you have to do.”
Drumline member junior Benjamin McNeil said he has enjoyed working alongside the pep band.
“Mrs. Armstrong has been really good about finding ways to integrate drumline and the pep band,” McNeil said. “It’s helped also to grow drumline and the pep band.”
In the future, Armstrong is working toward having the pep band and a smaller portion of the drumline present for basketball games.
“I’m working on trying to get a platform built so that our drum set can fit in the stands at the basketball games,” Armstrong said. “We’ll have some new tunes coming out for basketball season.”
According to Sickler they currently have six songs they can currently play, including “Seven Nation Army,” “Let’s Go,” “Band or Go”, “Fight Win”, “ESPN”, and “Lands of a Thousand Dances”.
Although Trinity has had a drumline for nine years, Armstrong believes a new upbeat band to play would add school spirit, similar to a marching band.
“Pep is different from marching bands in that they don’t actually march,” Armstrong said. “It’s a group that is still a musical ensemble, but the purpose is to really add some excitement and hopefully bring more people to different athletic events.”
The pep band is a hope to bring a new sense of excitement and fun to all of the students and players of Trinity.
“I want them to love what they play, and I want the people to hear us to enjoy what they’re hearing and to enjoy seeing the kids be active and involved,” Armstrong said.
