On Saturday October 16, this year’s 6A Annual Battle at the Berry Marching Band Contest took place. The Cypress Falls Marching Band walked away with second place in Class V, in addition to winning a performance award for outstanding percussion.

At the awards retreat, the students waited in anticipation to hear their school name ring through the loudspeakers. When the words were heard, the students jumped up in excitement, and hugged each other after all of the hard work they had put into this show. 

 “All the effort they’ve put in finally paid off for once, instead of getting last place, or medium and to just finally win something was just a huge confidence booster,” Percussion Captain Christina Huddleston (12) said.

The percussion section has been working on the show since late July. They had to deal with some new changes including a new director, a mostly new section, and getting back on the same track after the previous year being so hectic. 

“Every student is working their tail off, they’re coming in learning their music, working hard for me and working hard for everybody else in the band and on the team, so that they can put on their best show,” Percussion Director Bradley Baird said. 

Baird, who came from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, was finishing up grad school while teaching private lessons and helping teach marching and concert percussion ensembles. 

“This job worked out and I met the awesome band directors that I work with currently and the awesome administration that we have here at Cypress Falls, so it was a great fit for both of us,” Baird said. 

Even with the different challenges like the climate, the pandemic, and the heavy days where they left feeling like they couldn’t go on, the section kept going and brought it home for the entire band. 

 “I was just feeling overwhelmed, it was so exciting and literally we all jumped up and started screaming, maybe a little too loud but it’s okay,” Huddleston said. “We were so happy throughout the whole day. I went home with a smile on my face.”