Once a year since 2019, Cypress Falls holds “Freaky Thursday,” an event where a student in band or color guard invites a person they know to come and get a feel of what it’s like to be part of a marching band show.

“It’s not so much that they are included in a ‘practice’, but that we want to build a strong connection with our community,” Band Director Ryan Mohney said. “Our students are mostly in the position of ‘learners’ and we think it’s a great experience to let them be the ‘teachers’ for a moment. We also realize that the marching band activity is not the most mainstream thing out there. We think it’s important that our community also gets a small sample of what it really takes to do what our students do.” 

This year, Peter Quach, a current chemistry teacher and former band student, was invited by some of the color guard team to come and experience something he wishes he’d been able to when he was still in band. To Quach, Freaky Thursday is more than just a random event. 

“It actually shows the parents what the kids go through everyday during practice, which is very important for the parents to understand so that way, they can support their kids a lot better,” Quach said. “As a former band kid, I would’ve loved it if my parents came, but they usually didn’t.”

Overall, this year’s Freaky Thursday was a positive experience. 

“Regardless of what my responsibilities end up being in particular moments, the band team teaches together,” Mohney said. “Personally, I enjoy working to provide a place for people to feel that they can be themselves without needing to prove anything, work together on a large group project towards a common goal, and hopefully have an overall enjoyable experience that will result in positive memories down the road.”