Seniors Breanna Dewoody and Sarah Llewellyn, along with junior Haley Emerson will be the drum majors for the 2015-2016 marching band show entitled “Immortal.”

“I’m really excited to be drum major next year,” Dewoody said. “It’s a big honor to be given the opportunity to lead the band.”

Drum majors are a huge key to keeping the band together during the performance.

“They [the drum majors] are the leadership on the field and they are important for starting the show and stopping the show,” Director of Bands Kathy Johnson said. “They are the pulse of the band during the show along with the drum line.”

Before auditions, High School Associate Director Asa Burk provided help to the 18 different students who auditioned for the role of drum major.

“Mr. Burk taught us how to conduct and he gave us 15 minute lessons,” Emerson said. “He mentored us for our auditions and helped us a lot.”

The auditions consisted of performing a piece of next year’s show and an intensive interview among the staff and judges.

“Every year the students auditioning gets better and better,” High School Associate Director Michael Lemish said, “but this year we had the best applicants by far. There were a lot of students that would have made great drum majors next year. Qualities that stood out were just how they answered questions and being able to convey verbally what they were thinking, along with their leadership and conducting skills.”

The staff reviewed each student’s participation and the leadership they have shown over the years, but the directors also brought in outside judges to assist in the process.

“We wanted to have a balance rather than just one person’s input for every scoring,” Burk said. “It gives us a really balanced perspective on finding the best auditioner with a wide variety of skill sets.”

One drum major reflected  her desire to pursue the drum major position.

“I saw how influential the past drum majors were,” Llewellyn said. “They were really good role models for all the kids in the band, and I really just wanted to be someone like that, someone that other kids could look up to.”

The other senior drum major wants to “motivate others” as well.

“I want to get more involved with my fellow band members and get to know them more personally. I think I can motivate them to just keep an overall positive attitude in band,” Dewoody said. “I can’t wait for this opportunity to lead the band next year.”