When the band marched onto the field for their halftime shows three years ago, there were 75 high school members.

Three years later, the band program districtwide numbers 298, and the high school band has 98 members.

“Because of our 75% growth rate, we’re doing things this year that we never could have done two years ago or even last year,” Director Jay Sutton said. “We’re excited about what’s going to happen in the future as we continue this growth.”

Mr. Sutton said that due to a high retention rate at the middle school, they expect to see exponential growth at the high school in the coming years.

“It’s a much quicker growth at the middle school, so we’re kind of waiting on that transition period,” Mr. Sutton said “It normally takes seven to eight years to see a program grow, so we’re really lucky that we’ve seen the growth we have so quickly.”

But the opportunity to be in the band doesn’t stop at the middle school level.

“We’ve even allowed students to join the high school band,” Mr. Jay Sutton said. “If you want to have a place to be a part of something and work really, really hard, we’ll take you.”

As beneficial as the large numbers are though, the Directors’ priority is to shape well-rounded students. Their focus on growth is just as centered on the students individually.

“We like to see them grow, not just in the band hall, but out in the school too,” Mr. Jay Sutton said. “Our goal here is not just to create a really good musician. We want to create a really good person. That’s what we’re all about.”