In the quintessential 1980′s teen movie “The Breakfast Club,” the
traditional high school caste system ultimately comes tumbling
down.
Cool or nerd? Jock or band geek? Two decades later, are the same
questions still relevant?
From the look of high school marching bands today, the answer
seems to be no.
At Mt. Hebron High School in Ellicott City, the marching band is by
far the biggest student organization on campus. The Viking
marching unit will roll out with some 235 members this fall,
according to longtime director Bob Johnstone. That’s 14 percent of
the student population.
“Everyone has stereotypes,” Sam McMenamin, a senior band member
this year at Mt. Hebron said. “But our band is so big and diverse,
there are plenty of jocks, drama people, smart people, slackers _
and we all get along because of that.”
The same is true at Perry Hall High School. “We probably lose a few
kids who have peers telling them marching band isn’t ‘cool’,” said
band director Kenny Goldsboro. “But we’ll have 185 kids in our unit
this year _ and that’s a low number for us. And many of them, 30 to
40, probably play a winter or spring sport, too. There isn’t such a
division as there used to be.”
Zbigniew Gegala was a prime example of this. The 1998 graduate of
the Dulaney High School was the captain of the marching band his
senior year _ and a wide receiver on the football team. Throughout
the season he’d lead the band at practices during the week after the
football team’s workout, but then miss the unit’s pre-game and
halftime performances _ except once.
“Before our big homecoming game my senior year, I got to play the
national anthem, alone, just me and the microphone in front of the
whole crowd,” Gegala recounted. “I was standing out there in my
football uniform playing the trumpet. Afterwards, one of the guys
in the band ran out and took it from me and ran back to the band and
I went to the sideline to join the team. That didn’t happen every
week. That was special.”
At high schools like Dulaney, Parkville and Franklin in Baltimore
County, and nearly a dozen in Howard County, the marching band
holds more attraction than ever. It’s an opportunity for musically
gifted students to get to know a cross-section of the student
population while participating in a host of special activities. There
are trips to Atlantic City to march on the boardwalk in the Miss
America parade, August band camp, the annual Hagerstown
Halloween gala and the tough competition at the yearly Showcase
of Bands at Towson University _ not to mention the excitement of
performing before a big halftime crowd at football games. And
playing year-round keeps the serious musicians together for winter
and spring jazz and concert ensembles, too.
“Marching band is a totally different experience than anything else.
You really get to know people, starting with band camp and all the
trips _ it’s a community,” said Atholton senior Jason Shafer, a
clarinet player. “And after you work so hard for two weeks at band
camp getting a show together, it is so energizing to be on the field.
You realize how much work you have done.”
Somewhere after the long hair of the 1970′s and the punk/new
wave of the ’80′s, many stereotypes seemed to have fallen by the
wayside. But not all.
“I guess to a certain extent there are still ‘band dorks,’ but too
many band members do too many different things _ sports,
different clubs _ that band isn’t their primary thing,” said Joy
Fraser, a member of the Raiders Marching Band at Atholton High.
“We have so many guys playing football, that they have to come
back and practice later. The music department is very
well-rounded.”
Both Fraser and Shafer plan to study music in college.
Bob Brooks, a 1998 graduate of Perry Hall High, did the same at
Towson University. In high school, Brooks was a musical
jack-of-all-trades, playing sax, tuba and drums over his four years
with the Gator Marching Band.
“We won the Miss America twice while I was there, we went to
Disney World and marched in a parade down Main Street, we did a
ton of stuff,” Brooks said. “It was like a huge club and everybody
was in it together.”
At Towson University, he played with the jazz ensemble and even
majored in music. Now he’s a member of the jazz-fusion band
Derivative, the Tuesday night house band at Baltimore’s popular
Funk Box in Federal Hill.

Band blip
Marching bands aren’t thriving everywhere. Half the high schools in
Baltimore County have dropped their marching programs because of
budget constraints, lack of a strong director or low student
interest. But at schools where the marching band is a prestigious,
close-knit group, its functions take priority over all else.
At Glenelg High in western Howard County, spring athletes often
miss games and matches to take part in the band’s big events. This
summer 21 band members in the jazz ensemble performed at
international festivals in France, Germany and Switzerland. They
shared the bill with stars like Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock,
Bradford Marsalis and Joshua Redmond.
Globetrotting aside, back at home the marching band and the
football squad make for an unbeatable autumn combination. The
Gladiators have won three straight county championships, and the
award-winning band has created such a buzz that Friday night home
games are often standing room only.
“The team has been doing great, and no one wants to get out of
their seat at halftime either,” said Barry Enzman, Glenelg’s band
director.