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sk anyone what makes a high school footballgame, and you just might be surprised by theanswer. It's likely they won't say the sport itself,

but all the pomp that celebrates the circumstance. What'sa half time for anyway? loud music, twirling, peppycheerleaders, a swirling color guard of flags and riflesall to get a rowdy crowd even more pumped up to routefor their team. Those football players work hard anddeserve lots of credit, but even they feed off " da noize."

Jessica Shearer is all about it, though as

!oran's band director she prefers her noise on

pitch without ruling out "da fun." "Channel

your inner goofiness!" she yeils to her band

kids as they practice minutes before their

season's first pep rally. After an enthusiastic

renditi.on of the r98os favorite "Safety

Dance," Shearer can't help but get swept up.

"Perfectl" She sings back. "I'm feeling a lot of

love for you right now."

The band has a motto hanging on a felt

banner in the music room: "One band.

One side. One love." It's a band family that

18 Milford Living . Autumn

hangs together, Iaughs together, and dances

together. As the energy heats up with pop

band LMFAO's "Party Rock" anthem, so do

the kids. The horn section sways back and

forth in unison, a sea of red shirts dressed for

the pep rally are shufflin', singing infectious

lyrics, dancing, and having a good old time.

"I like the energy," beams Shearer. "It was

almost a miracle." But not quite, as she

continues to give directions, asking for crisper

endings until they nail it and get ready to

"shufJle in" to the gym for the pep rally. After

all, perfectionism does have a place in the

"pep:'

f; Strive and Thrive3 It *rrn't always this way for Shearer.6'I B.li.n. it or not there was a time she

F neeaea to recruit kids to play in the band.l3 "It's definitely been an evolution," she

The Law Band marches out for i

performance.

- . -i . -\',:,rord Lir.ing 1

il

ozzo

o

F

lo

admits. Shearer started at Foran in zoo4

',rlth only twenty-nine kids. "That first year

scme kids didn't even know how to play an

=strument and I worked with them." Nine

rears later, she has grown the program to

sixty-nine kids. It's because band leaders

grve up countless hours to make their

programs successful. They hold workshops,

teach kids how to play instruments they've

never heard of, and offer up weeknights

and weekends to get it right.

Foran High School principal John Barile

is quick to point out Shearer's dedication.'She can often be found long after the

school day or on weekends, working

with students and parents or on her

own preparing for upcoming Iessons

or performances." This is really no big

deal to band leaders. It's the love ofthe

music, hearing that sweet, sweet note

after mentoring a kid for months to get

there-and the overwhelming sense ofa community partnership comprised of

students, teachers, administrators, and

of course, parents. Shearer is actually a

second generation band director. She grew

up in Massachusetts watching her father

direct the East Longmeadow High School

band. It's in her blood.

A Community ThingPaul Marino grew up in the Milford

community. He went to Jonathan Law,

taught at Law, and has been the band

director at Law since r988. He's seen so

many structural changes through the

years, from a large jazzhorn ensemble to

a huge percussion section. Each year is

The Foran Band performs in Washington D.C.

at the WIVII memorial.

different because each member's interests

are different. You cater to what you have,

he says. A tall, jovial guy whose life is so

completely woven into Milford's fabric,

he knows everyone and knows what ittakes to make his band successful Law

mostly focuses on the marching aspect

while Foran's attention is placed primarilyon the concert level. Both offer jazz and

concert. And though they may be differentin style-the two face similar challenges

with the ebb and flow of program changes."My goal year after to year is to justpresent a balanced program," says Marino.-I started with sixteen kids. Now there are

about fifty." There were more, up to ro8, he

sa15. 5.,, kids have harder demands now.

i: :akes a lot to be a superkid who can do

every*J-dng. "Something's got to give."Kids who make up band...'. Participate in sports, clubs, volunteer

work, all in addition to band

', Are disciplined, passionate, and hard-workingTendto do well in schoolHave a sense of pride and camaraderie

Have atremendous sense of school spiritOft en organize band-related activitiesoutside of school (this year Foran

participated in Relay for Life: laworganized a coat drive for HurricaneSandy victims)

Unraiveringit takes a huge level of commitment to

cc band, without a doubt. Some of these

irjds are playing sports too, or have a heavy

:-omework load, and all add community

a

&

20 Mllford Living . lI'inter

::rvice to the mix. Plus, there's bottle

:rives, candy drives, selling cookie dough,

rolunteer nights at Rita's and Red Robin

::staurants-all fundraisers that pay f.or

some expenses so each band is able to

:cmpete and grow musically, in state and

:::t. With all this going on, it's only natural

:c ask-where do they find the time to

practice? "We just accommodate schedules

so each kid who wants to be in the band

can," says Marino.

Those that do, reap the rewards. Law's

Marching Band travels all over the tri-state

area to compete and has won many juried

competitions. Together with the Color

Guard, the group performs through the

Musical Arts Conference (MAC) in a 7-8 week

performance schedule, delivering ro-minute

shows. Fact: it is widely considered one of

the best marching bands in the state. Ioran's

band has its own set of esteemed recogni-

tions. It was asked to play at the World War

II Memorial in Washington, D.C., the Rock

'n Roll Hall of Fame, Walt Disney World

:.-: Living 2./

in Orlando, and Connecticut

Governor's Mansion. It's these

honors that make a school and

community proud-and all the

hard work worth the trouble.

Band is an actual class in both

schools, and both offer march-

lng, concert, and jazzband,

catering to the instruments the

klds know how to play.

"Band is a thing I am really

:roud to be a part of," says-arly Burriesci, band president

a:.d senior at Foran. "I love the

:-nily environment. You can

:: stressed in high school and',',-::en you come to band you

,c:,cw that people here care

a: cut you." There is no hier-

=::hy, no bossing each other

-rund. There's just a genuine

: asslon for music. It's like the

:a:rily whose house you'd visitard never want to leave they-,,,-ere that awesome.

Burriesci is a self-taught

:rombone player who just

always wanted tobe in a jazz

group, so she "picked it up."

J azz b and instruments include

trombone, saxophone, trum-

pet, double bass, and clarinet,

her principal instrument.

Burriesci says the skills she

has acquired through band are

ones she will use her entire

life. In a lot of ways, band is

a diverse group with a wide

variety of interests across spec-

trum. These are students who embrace op-

portunity and work hard. There is a sense

of pride and commitment to each school

and most of all, to themselves. "Band kids

are just good kids," said Marino. "Kids withgreat integrity, whether they come here

with it or learn from it here," adds Shearer.

22 Milford Living . Winter'

Law Band Championship photos throughout the years

fooking GoodA band that works well together looks

good together, and that means a uniforrr-

And they aren't always pretty. Iike lt'herShearer first got to Foran, bolero bloi.Lses

were all the rage. "They whore white a:-:navy pants with a white stripe and rei s:

quined gauntlets with whitegloves," she says. And then

there was that white plastic

hat with red-sequined trim..."What teen wants to wearplastic cowboy hats?" said

Shearer. Strive and thrive isthe school's motto, so things

changed, but only modestly.

Red and blue are the school

colors. The pants stayed.

The red sequined hat brimdidn't.

Since Jonathan Law has

been around for fifty years,

it's seen a uniform evolutionthat went from skirts for the

ladies to pants and a more

modernized militaristic feel

of the school colors gold

and black. Since a marching

band historically evolved

from armies, it ceremonially

borrows the look and uses

the same commands duringshows: "Attention!" "Forward

marchl" Last year's show was

a reference to Stonehenge;

this year's Dante's Inferno,

a three-part heaven, hell,

f pur8atory theme. Hell hath

E no furv...than the effects ofm3 drums with big booming

i crescendos. Think loud

h percussion rounded out withU.! the subtlety oftriangles andu symbols. "The bigger the

effect on people, the more

powerful the show," says

Raci-e- Gomes, junior section leader, drums.

Br.l:s meant to entertain, which

-:a:.s -:,a:-<

to the pomp and circumstance.''-: s ab:ut entertaining the crowd," says

Si:-::. .So everyone can have fun." And,

--: ::-::,.e. that means having a good old

-:.: ::-ebrating the music.@