After marching band season concluded, many students chose to participate in the winter season of color guard and percussion: winter guard, winter percussion and percussion ensemble. 

All three of these groups performed their beautiful pieces and routines for this upcoming season as a preview for friends and family to observe on Feb. 13. Performing these shows to loved ones is an emotional experience because the audience can finally see how these students’ hard work has paid off. Spectators began to line the bleachers in the West Ranch gym starting at 7:45, while the performance began at 8 p.m. 

The first to take the floor was the West Ranch High School percussion ensemble, who played a song called “A True Romantic.” This group performs in concerts for attendees and blows them away every time with their impressive skill of playing. Professionalism is a notable aspect of the program, which is cause for the musicians to wear suits and dresses as they perform. 

The winter guard’s show is called “The Moon,” which features a blue floor with white patterns and a massive crescent moon that members stood on to create different formations. White crescent moons and stars cover the bright purple and white flags, resembling a cosmic scene, while white, flowy costumes and shimmering hair pieces glow in the midst of the dark blue floor and props. Winter guard took home second place at their first competition, which was held in Bakersfield on Feb. 15.

When asked how being captain has helped her this year, one of the three winter guard captains, junior Jaime Lee, discloses, “For me, it helped me develop the ability to help others like I was able to see who was struggling, who was not, who learns a certain way, learns a different way so that way I was able to be a lot more observant.” 

She is co-captain with along juniors Caitlyn Delagilo and Radi Epps. 

“Building off of that,” adds Epps, “captain for me has definitely helped me be a lot more patient and it has helped me pick up on the nuances of people a little bit better now and know what they’re about.” 

“We’ve grown a lot together as leaders and we’ve been working a lot as a team and it’s just working with three other captains, it’s very nice and we’ve become very good friends,” declares Delgadilo.  

This year, the West Ranch winterpercussion show is titled “My Demons,” which portrays the idea that someone or something is always watching you. Their costumes will eventually have masks with glowing eyes that resemble a stalker-like figure. They have won first place in the first two competitions of their season. 

Snare section leader and junior Tristain Manalang describes this new show: “Recently we’ve been doing these shows that appear very bright and positive in the beginning, but then we show the underlying theme of how everyone has a dark side, and we implement that in our body and also in our music.” 

Winter percussion opens many doors for freshmen to branch out and encounter different grade levels with similar interests as them. Having a tight-knit community on a campus as big as West Ranch helps students find their niche in the grand scheme of things.

Freshman bass drum player Truman Harrah expresses, “You will meet a lot of really nice people in the program that will slowly become almost like a second family once you’ve spent enough time with them.”

This viewing of these programs’ shows was widely enjoyed by all who visited. Their routines will only become better throughout the next couple of weeks, and the students are anticipating a successful season. The Paw Print wishes these three programs luck in future competitions.

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