The winter drumline season is in full swing and it is VERY exciting! This season I am teaching at Sabino High School as well as Sahuarita High School. Both schools are making great progress from when I first started working there and I could not be happier.

How do we compete?

We compete in the Arizona circuit called WGAZ which follows similar guidelines as WGI, which is the national circuit used for this activity. While these schools are about 30 to 40 miles apart, they are both fighting for the same thing and that is a gold medal. Luckily for me, they are in different divisions. In WGAZ, the divisions are split up by 3, World Class, Open Class, A Class. After that, they split up A class into 3 more sections, which is, A National, A Local, and A Regional. Those divisions are chosen by pure talent level. The best units, within A class, would be in A National, A Local would follow, and then A Regional would be the beginning drumlines. Sahuarita is in their very first year in competition, so by default, they are listed into A Regional. Sabino is competing this season in A Local which is right above them.

BOTH OF THEM ARE DOING INCREDIBLE!

Sabino has made great progress in its program this year. I work primarily with the front ensemble, but I do step in occasionally on battery. What that means is that if I talk about anything it probably means front ensemble. Their music sounds good and I think they could easily be a powerhouse in their division this year. They compete in the WGAZ Percussion focus show coming up and I cannot wait to see what they can do.

Sahuarita had their first competition in its program’s history this past weekend! See their scores here. (Sahuarita’s Score 2/23) I showed up late to their lot so I can’t really talk too

much about it. There was a serious accident on the interstate which caused there to be an incredible amount of traffic. It got so bad that people were standing outside of their cars waiting for traffic to move. Anyways, when I got to the lot, I worked with their cymbal line, which is why I was hired there, and we had a great lot rehearsal together. That set them up for an extremely successful first place run of their show. They compete next at the same Percussion Focus show that Sabino High School will be at.

Percussion Focus Show

This Percussion Focus Show that I keep talking about is very special for 2 reasons. I don’t want to seem bitter, but here are the reasons.

1. I get to see where my schools line up with a lot of other schools. Almost every unit in the state will be in attendance.
2. Sahuarita is competing against the high school I graduated from. (Horizon High School)

I haven’t had much communication with my old high school because I have no connection to them. After my brother graduated in 2017, I have had no reason to check in on them. This will be a nice reunion with them and I am very excited to see how they do.