The Beaver Area Marching Band started the new season with exhilarating preparations.

The halftime theme for the 2024 season is “Pop Rocks.”

“Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, and “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are the song selections for the 2024 season halftime show.

To prepare for a successful season, the Beaver Area Marching Band must start early to put all materials together. And that means the marching band started back to work in late July.

Band camp started July 29 and continued through August 9.

Students spent hours working on memorization with both drill and music.

Add in that students had to learn the importance of staying hydrated, and having the ability to work in the heat.

“We are very proud of our marching band students so far this year. They had a positive and productive summer. We have 21 new members in the group, and they’ve made great strides,” stated Band Director Mr. J.P. Scanga.

During their last week of camp, the Beaver Area Marching Band preformed for the district’s new superintendent Dr. Sean Aiken.

The band preformed a few selections of their halftime show, the Fight Song, and the Beaver Area High School’s Alma Mater.

August 12, The Beaver Area Marching Band also performed at Kennywood for the annual Fall Fantasy Parade.

The marching band marched throughout the park playing “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé, and a few selections of drum cadences.

The band performed alongside several other high school marching bands including Allderdice, Beaver Local, Canon-McMillan, Corry, Philipsburg-Osceola, Plum, Punxsutawney, and West Allegheny.

“We have had a very successful start to this year’s marching band season. With a strong student leadership group as well as a hardworking class of new members, we have been able to infuse features in our show that we hope the audience enjoys. There is just a lot of excitement around the band this year in general,” added Drumline Instructor Mr. Louis Didio.

August 15, the band had a preview show to showcase their halftime show for family and friends to watch.

August 19, the marching band performed for the K-12 faculty during their faculty’s opening in-service meeting, and the band performed at the Meet the Teams night later that day.

The marching band performed “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé, “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses, and the Fight Song for both performances.

Enthusiasm for the band’s busy year also is shared among the musicians: “I’m excited for the band festival,” said drummer junior Emily McCreary.

August 24, was the first football game and away game for the Beaver Area Marching Band.

The marching band performed the National Anthem for pregame, played the entirety of their halftime show during halftime, and played many different tunes in the stands.

September 6 was the marching band’s second game and second away game. They performed their halftime show and many different songs while in the stands.

The marching band plays in the stands every game, and plays a variety of tune selections ranging from short tunes to long tunes, even many drum tunes.

Every part that goes into running an entire halftime show takes lots of dedication and work from students and directors.

Parents also play an outsize role in helping the marching band by providing tents, water, snacks, and lunch throughout camp and the beginning of the season.

“I am very excited with how well the band has learned new and challenging material. This group has a great deal of potential, great student leadership, and even more young leaders ready to step in future years,” added Assistant Band Director Mr. Steven Maker.