The 48 members of Whitewright High School’s marching band include students from 8th grade through 12th grade, and their 2026 marching season is off to a hot, but great start.
Director David Terry said the band is mostly freshmen and sophomores this year.
“We have a pretty big 8th grade group,” he said, noting there are about 15 of the youngsters in the band.
This year’s marching show is called “Secrets of the Jungle.”
The show was arranged for the band by Rod Boyce who is the band director at Terrell High School.
“We are using music from Symphony No. 4 for Winds and Percussion, and a wind band song called Jungle Fantasy,” Terry said.
He said the inspiration for the piece came from a band student last year.
The student actually said it should be a “Jungle Cruise” themed show, but that would cause the school to have to purchase rights from Disney, so they looked for a similar but not copyrighted direction.
“She got me thinking that the jungle was a really good theme, and I loved the piece Wind Symphony No. 4 and I knew it would translate well,” Terry said.
The drill was written specifically for the Whitewright band and will include props eventually.
“We are going to have some jungle trees out there,” he said, noting that the jungle will probably grow as the season progresses.
State competition, he said, is the ultimate goal for the group this year.
“We are making a push for state this year. We feel like we have a pretty good show that can make it to state. We work hard enough; I think we can get there,” Terry said.
In addition, the band is looking at planning a trip to Branson, Missouri this year.
Terry said the competitions and trips wouldn’t be possible for the band without the support it gets from both the school administration and the community.
“They’ve never told us no when we needed to get anything. The band parents here have been unbelievable. They have really stepped up this year, and we got our 501(c)(3) so we are tax exempt and that is going to help us raise even more money,” he said.
He said the band parents work hard for the group running the volleyball concessions and the snow cone shack for football season.
“They really work their tails off, and without them we wouldn’t be able to do half of what we do,” he said.
Terry, who has been working with high school bands for years, said the students in the band are also incredibly hard working.
