The Fredericktown Blackcat band members are very hardworking and talented students. They dedicate so much time and effort into playing for our school. Our band plays at our school games and events during halftime and provides quality entertainment for the audiences that attend. The most popular band performance is at Football Homecoming. The band prepares and trains for this fall event from August until October. This 2020 school year, our band played a variety of songs from the film Guardians of the Galaxy, including “I Want You Back” by the Jackson Five and “Hooked on a Feeling”. They also played the “Star Spangled Banner” and the “Fight Song,” which is played annually. The featured drum majors of the year were juniors Jerritt Hargis and Elizabeth Settle.

Unfortunately, the Pink out Homecoming game is the only game our band students have been able to perform at so far this year. Due to the COVID—19 pandemic, our students have had to go through many changes to make their program work. According to sophomores Sam Coleman, Patience Garland, and John Yount, COVID—19 has affected the band negatively. They stated that there have been many cancellations of their district performances. The only other performance they might be able to do this year is the Veterans Day parade.  

These students are all very different but work together towards one goal, performing. Though many of these talented individuals face many challenges being in different academic and extra curricular programs while participating in the FHS marching band program. They continue to strive in all they do, continually making FHS prouder and prouder of their accomplishments.  They all differ between personalities, interests, and skills. Sophomore Patience Garland, for example, has many different talents and skills. Patience plays the clarinet, runs for the cross country team, and does other things outside of school that she enjoys. All of our students are amazing and talented individuals.  Many of these students are also extremely talented in the academic area, being featured in organizations such as Beta and the A+ program.  We at FHS are extremely honored to have such talented and excellent individuals to represent our marching band program. We could not have asked for a better performance to “pump up” our FHS football team and encourage them to do their best at our homecoming pink out against the Potosi Trojans. It was absolutely a fantastic performance and a night to remember.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Elizabeth Settle (11) directing the band during homecoming.