Sophomore Chloe Barnhart and a few other high school students had been working for a few months with the new middle school winter guard team when they saw a breakthrough in the team’s progress.
“All of them are new to it and it’s been difficult trying to teach them, but they have been picking up the skills,” Barnhart said. “Something in that one day of practice clicked and then they all did it together.”
Equipment manager sophomore Brooke Manning agrees that the team’s timing for their flags routine improved. Since the routine needs the students to be synchronized and timed for the show, it was overwhelmingly satisfying that they were able to get that part of the flags down at the same time, Manning said.
“It was like something flipped in them, and it was like, ‘Wow, we were actually able to teach them this,” Manning said.
Barnhart first proposed the idea of a team for sixth- and seventh-graders in November. She has been participating in guard since eighth grade, when students can first join the high school team.
“It took a little while to get to the level I am at, but I am nowhere near done improving,” Barnhart said of her own abilities.
She initially had pretty high expectations regarding competitions and practices for the middle school team. But Barnhart soon recognized that middle schoolers could not be expected to perform at the same level as high schoolers so quickly, so this would be a long process.
High school guard members have talked for some time about forming a middle school team, but nothing ever materialized, Barnhart said. The main purpose is to provide experience for students before they reach the high school team.
Team member and seventh-grader Emma Staver thinks the team is a great opportunity for those looking to get into color guard in high school.
“I started when the middle school team was made. I did not have any other experience in color guard before,” Staver said. “Being able to be part of something that is not grade-specific is really cool because I have met friends who I may not have met without joining color guard.”
The sport requires a lot of upper-body strength, hand-eye coordination, and basic dancing skills. At practice, the team warms up with a short dance and then moves on to flags. Then they do a drill that practices their designated moves.
“I think the most challenging thing was learning the right-hand placements, since I have never competed in this fashion before” Staver said. “It has been a challenge sometimes, but having Chloe and everyone there to ask questions has been really helpful.”
It’s not all hardships, though. There are also chances for friendship.
“We like to goof off by making up our own moves while at practice. We are able to laugh even when we are working to learn our routine,” Staver said.
Manning has been the equipment manager for both the high school and middle school guard teams and also assists with coaching for the middle school team. Although Manning is not in guard herself, her experience as a dancer for seven years allows her to help out with the team for their ribbon line routine.
The team members’ drive for guard inspires the high school coaches to move forward and progress with the team, Manning said.
“With them being in sixth grade, it’s really impressive that they’re able to learn this entire routine and remember it,” Manning said.
The team’s sponsor is Band Director Emery Palmer, who hopes that the middle school team will give students experience before high school.
“My hope is that this sets up the middle school students for learning and developing some beginning guard skills that will benefit them greatly if they choose to pursue guard in high school,” Palmer said.
Barnhart initially proposed the idea to Palmer and middle school Band Director Zack George.
“She was incredibly professional with the whole process and even gave us our own little packet with all of the information and her plans in order to bring the program to life,” Palmer said.
Palmer believes that middle school students having a younger authority figure as a mentor will make them listen more.
“I think that middle school students tend to gravitate to and listen more to younger adults, especially high school students,” Palmer said.
The team practices at least twice a week, with days varying based on availability. The team competes for the first time at Baldwin at 5:25 p.m. on Saturday.
