By Suzanne Schmidt
Two students from Sunlake High School will march the summer away touring with Teal Sound, a world-class drum and bugle corps.
Brent Harden, 16, of Land O’ Lakes and Becky Macias, 17, of Odessa, will compete in the Drum Corps International World Class Summer Tour from the day school ends June 4 to the day before it starts again Aug. 14. The students will get to travel all over including Texas, Oklahoma, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois.
Harden will be playing the mellophone an instrument he has played for five years because it is a fun and easy.
“The corps is like the NFL for marching bands,” Harden said. “It is rewarding and challenging. It will be very tough to leave my family behind for the summer. One good thing about it is we will get to see a lot of the country.”
Macias said she is excited to be on tour all summer.
“I think it will be fun but I will miss my family,” Macias said. “I am looking forward to going on tour. Even if it is hard right now, I feel like it is completely worth it. It is something I really like to do.”
Macias has been in the color guard for a little more than two years.
“I started off in percussion then midway through the marching season I switched to color guard,” Macias said. “I like performing and I like dancing around and having people watch me. It is a lot of fun. I want to be a high school teacher and teach color guard on the side one day.”
Harden and Macias need to raise $2,500 each to be able to go on the tour. The money will go towards their lodging and food. To donate, visit tealsound.org/support/wholeperson.html.
The students auditioned for Teal Sound at a weekend-long camp with hundreds of other high school students from throughout the Southeast United States. They were two of only four students from Pasco to make it. The other two are Brandon Slaughter and Ryan Harring from Mitchell High School.
Ever since they found out they would be touring with the corps, they have been spending at least one weekend a month practicing at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast. They said they are practicing as much as 12 to 14 hours a day in the sun only breaking for meals.
“You have to be fit,” Macias said. “You have to eat healthy and they gave us exercise plans.”
Harden said he has learned a lot more than just being fit.
“I learned that nothing comes easily,” Harden said. “It is something I will take with me for the rest of my life.”
Tonya O’Malley, Sunlake band director, is the visual technician for Teal Sound. She asked both students to audition because she thought they would learn a lot from the experience.
“I saw there were some positions available but I didn’t know if they were interested,” O’Malley said. “I contacted the students who I thought could perform at that level. Becky and Brent went to a couple of the camps and it was nice because they really enjoyed it. This is an experience I feel high school students wouldn’t get anywhere else. The camaraderie and the work ethic they learn is something a lot of kids just don’t understand.”
O’Malley said she is happy they both enjoy the corps because of how hectic the work schedule is.
“They wake up at 7:30 a.m. and the lights out are at 1:30 a.m.,” O’Malley said. “They only get a break for meals. They are literally rehearsing all day long. They do a lot of physical training out in the sun all day.”
In addition to the life lessons, O’Malley said it is a great opportunity to prepare the students to be global citizens.
“There are people who fly from all over to participate,” O’Malley said. “There is even one person in Brent’s section who is from Japan. It gives them the opportunity to interact with people from different parts of the world.”
For more information, visit tealsound.org.
