My name is Nicole and I’m in the Class of 2020 at the high school. I play piccolo in the Marching Knights and am the flute section leader. I joined the NPMK as a rising 9th grader, and I am so glad that I did.
Here are the top 10 reasons why YOU should join the North Penn Marching Knights:
- The high school is big – REALLY BIG – but when you have a corner of it that feels like your own, it doesn’t seem TOO big. Being in the Marching Knights gives you a place to call your own – a section of the building where you can always meet up, grab a snack, and throw your stuff.
- Finding your people – this goes along with the high school being BIG. You are used to seeing the same faces in your classes right now, but that changes as the three middle schools come together. Band starts in the summer, and having 100 or so new friends before your first day of class at the high school is a great thing. Beyond just the high school transition, your closest friends will be from the band. I know that doesn’t seem likely right now, but it’s true. Don’t miss out on finding your people.
- The food – we are constantly being fed. Pizza, pasta, hoagies, ice cream, water ice. Yum.
- The staff – there is a whole staff of instructors (who are not teachers or parents) who work with the band. They are your future mentors and letter-of-recommendation writers.
- The bus – we ride (sometimes in school buses, but sometimes on tour buses) on Fridays and Saturdays to football games and competitions. And the bus rides are fun. Just trust me on that, because I know it doesn’t sound likely.
- Band camp – two weeks in August full of hard work, water balloon fights, spirit days, and friends before classes kick in.
- Football games – SO. MUCH. FUN. Free admission. Free snacks. I am a huge sports fan, but even people who don’t care about the actual game still love Friday nights out all together.
- Winning – we compete and we win (ok, not always, but almost always)! We work hard to perform a complicated show and then we compete on Saturdays in the fall. And most of the time, we win. Winning is fun.
- The timing – just when classwork and other high school clubs are ramping up, band ends. Band ends with the last football game, around the end of November. A lot of things at the high school take a while to get started, and band ends just in time for everything else to start.
- Did I mention the high school is BIG. Yup. There’s that. Find your place (hint, it’s in the band)!
So, here are the band myths that your parents may worry about:
- Band hurts your grades. FALSE. See #9 above. There are great students and not-so-great students in the band, like in most any group, but band is not the issue. Like in sports, you can’t participate in band events if you don’t “make grades” each week.
- Band takes too much time. FALSE. Well, it’s true that band requires time. But it teaches you time management and really, moms and dads, what would you rather us be doing?
- Band doesn’t help you with your future. FALSE. I am in the middle of the college search and can 100% tell you that band is a good thing. Being an active member of the school matters and being a LEADER in the school matters. The band provides many leadership opportunities that in a big school can be hard to come by. Band helps you fill in those blanks on your college apps.
- Band gets in the way of taking AP level classes. FALSE. Not everyone is interested in taking AP classes, but if you are, you totally can. Yes, you will have summer homework – the higher the class level, the more summer work. But there is still plenty of time. I took 4 AP classes as a junior and am taking 6 as a senior (and I’m not the only one).
- Band demands the parents’ time, too. FALSE. Well, kind of false. If your mom or dad wants to stalk you, they can. The band needs lots of parent volunteers (see #3 above…who do you think serves the pizza?) BUT, not every parent or family participates and that’s totally fine. You be you, Mom and Dad.
- Band is too expensive. FALSE. Well, again, kinda false. Band does cost money – like most everything at the high school, some costs are covered by the school and others are not. I don’t have the details but I do know this: if you have a financial need, there is confidential help available. The money goes to staff, food, buses…everything that makes it the greatest organization at the high school.
Great – no excuses (unless you play a fall sport…that’s a good excuse).
Nicole A ♡
