By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Staff Writer

CALERA – While other students may spend the last weeks of summer break laying out by the pool, the Calera High School marching band is braving the Alabama heat to perfect their routine.

Starting on Monday, July 22 and ending Friday, Aug. 2, Calera High School band camp has given students the opportunity to hone their craft in preparation of the school year.

The theme of this year’s show is “Move It.” With songs such as “Bouncing Around the Room” by Phish and “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles, the theme celebrates movement in all of its various forms.

Calera High School Band Director Luke Manning shared that he is excited for the movement incorporated in the show, as well as the opportunity to introduce his students to music he loves.

“I love that old style stuff,” Manning said. “(It’s fun) to be able to share some music that I’m really fond of that they have never heard before.”

In the first week, Calera’s band camp is all about learning the basics.

According to Manning, the CHS band this year consists of a large amount of underclassmen, so the fundamentals established in the beginning are doubly important.

“Whatever you do, you have got to do it well, so the basics are what we’re doing right now,” Manning said.

The color guard arrived at 9 a.m. to learn choreography, while the percussionists spent time with specialists in music rehearsals. The wind players—carrying their trumpets, flutes and tubas—joined at the beginning of the afternoon block for music sessions.

After dinner provided by the Band Boosters, all the different sections of the band gathered on the CHS practice field to learn field formations and movement called “drill.”

By the second week of band camp, the goal is to finish drill, so that the show can begin to come together.

“We finished setting drill last night, so we’ve learned all the formations for the show,” Manning said. “Really, starting tonight, we’re trying to put music and motion together.”

Manning shared that he is incredibly proud of the band for the progress they have made so far during band camp.

“Being day two of our second week, the fact that we have the whole drill on is a huge accomplishment,” Manning said. “I don’t think the kids understand how big of a deal that is. We’ve entered a stage where now the rest of the season is the same. We’re cleaning and we’re making it better, but we have the skeleton. Now, we’re fleshing it out.”

For Manning, the best thing about band camp is watching his student grow and develop as individuals.

“My favorite part is when they have one of those moments and you can just see it on their faces,” Manning. “They realize that ‘hey, we finally did it and it all came together.’ That realization. I love the process.”