Southmoreland juniors balance marching band and cheerleading
Charles Echard
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." -Voltaire
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Rushing from one rehearsal to another, hastily eating only a bag of Cheez Its for dinner in between, Juniors Morgan Conty and Shelby Bryan’s extracurricular lives are split in two: marching band and varsity cheerleading.
Participating in two demanding school activities creates a hectic schedule for the two, but it seems Conty and Bryan know how to handle the pressure.
“Morgan and Shelby know how to budget their time wisely,” said band director Shawn Harris.
And apparently, Conty and Bryan’s time management has paid off.
“Shelby and Morgan are among the most accomplished musicians in the band,” said marching band senior commanding officer Kylie Diener.
Bryan said participating in both cheerleading and band does not come without its rough spots, however.
“Morgan and I miss about two hours of band rehearsal a week,” Bryan said.
A decrease in band rehearsal time by about one-third should have an adverse effect on their performances in the band. But Diener said “Morgan is awesome to work with. It’s almost like she’s never missed a rehearsal.”
Conty went on to say that for every negative circumstance that comes out of being in both the marching band and varsity cheer squad, her ability to lead communication between the two organizations has provided more than enough reason to continue participating in both activities.
“The cheer squad and marching band have a close relationship, especially since Shelby and I are parts of both organizations,” said Conty.
Many of the cheerleaders seem to align with Conty’s claims of support from her peers. At any football game, it’s common to hear loud, enthusiastic cheers from the varsity squad after the band’s halftime performance.
Senior varsity cheer squad member Keera Frye said that despite lost practice time and challenges related to Conty and Bryan also being in marching band, she supports her fellow cheerleaders “one-hundred percent.”
That sentiment seems to be shared in the marching band community as well.
“When students like Shelby and Morgan have the opportunity to get involved and do something they enjoy, they should be afforded every resource to do so,” Mr. Harris said.
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