Photo Courtesy of junior Jane Culbreath
Band students at San Luis Obispo High School have been working hard to raise money for band camp after a two year break during the pandemic. Band camp is a five day training camp, usually in early August before school starts, where band students learn vital marching skills, music for their field show, and, most importantly, meet new students and bond.
“Band camp gives us a jumpstart on the year with skills that we need to know, marching skills and music skills, and a jumpstart on starting on our show. But, an even bigger issue is that we get to bond the band members with each other and become a cohesive unit by working together before school starts,” said band director Sharon Jeskey.
The band bonds through games, traditions, and long days together. Typically, the band meets for two days on campus and three days (two nights) at an overnight camp. Two years ago, however, the band was not able to have a band camp at all, and last year it was held solely on SLOHS campus without the overnight aspect. This year, the band plans on going to Granite Ridge Camp in Creston for their overnight experience.
“Covid has affected the band program tremendously. This past year felt like recovery. We were catching up a whole year of kids in our program who did not know a lot about marching band. With band camp, we couldn’t go to an overnight camp like we usually have done for two years in a row because of covid regulations,” said senior band board vice president Lindsay McKee.
For many upperclassmen, the overnight experience is considered vital to a great start of the season and the training of freshman.
“Usually every new year band camp is primarily about training the freshman. This year, we had to train both the sophomores and the freshman, which is easier said than done. However, I do think that as a leadership we tried our best to keep old traditions while adding in new traditions to pass on to the following years,” said junior band board president Christian Cuevillas.
The band’s passionate members work hard to fundraise each year for band camp expenses, as well as other expenses, such as instruments, field trips, and props for their show. The band camp fundraising goal this year was $20,000, and the band raised enough to safely cover necessary costs.
“The band raises money through fundraising. This last year we had a couple of Blaze Pizza fundraisers, we had a Chipotle fundraiser, a See’s Candy fundraiser, a Christmas tree fundraiser, and we took donations. The band is connected to San Luis Obispo Instrumental Music Boosters Association (SLOIMBA). The parents in this booster help coordinate our fundraisers, and they also handle all of our money,” said Cuevillas.
As the band continues to expand their program, they hope to maintain the tradition of attending band camp and grow their band family.
