Cy-Falls Band Highlights Marching Season with 'Freaky Thursday'Â
By Jerry Howard, Emily Perez, Julian Alvarez and Charlena Phan, Cypress Falls HS
Nov 29, 2022 —To help bridge students in the Cypress Falls High School marching band with their fellow students and staff members, the ensemble continued one of its newest—but most interesting—traditions.
Now in its fourth year, “Freaky Thursday” returned for the Cypress Falls band. The showcase event allows students in the band or color guard to invite someone to join them for a Thursday practice. The honoree not only participates in the practice but hopefully gets a better feel and understanding of what the marching band students go through in preparing an award-winning show.
This year, Cypress Falls chemistry teacher Peter Quach was invited out by members of the color guard for the practice on Sept. 23.
“It’s not so much that they are included in a practice but that we want to build a strong connection with our community,” said Ryan Mohney, Cypress Falls director of bands. “Our students are mostly in the position to be learners and we think it’s a great experience to let them be the teachers for a moment. We also realize that marching band is not the most mainstream thing out there. It’s important that our community gets a small sample of what it really takes to do what our students do.”
The Cypress Falls marching band earned a Division I rating at the Region 27 Marching Contest on Oct . 22, advancing and competing in the Area I Marching Contest a week later. The ensemble also earned a top-three finish in its class at the Cypress Showcase.
Quach worked through the color guard routines. A former band student himself, Quach said he enjoyed the experience and wished it was around when he was in band.
“It actually shows the parents what the kids go through every day during practice, which is very important for parents to understand so that way, they can support their kids a lot better,” he said. “As a former band kid, I would’ve loved it if my parents came.”
Mohney said the event was a positive experience as it teaches togetherness and showcases what the band and color guard members do behind the scenes.
“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,” he said.
