Students Bond, Learn Discipline at Capuchino's Band Camp

If you happened to venture past during the first week of August, you might have seen the football field littered with high-schoolers, preparing for the upcoming season.

These high-schoolers, however, were not draped in shoulder pads and helmets.

This past week, the Capuchino High School marching band was holding its fifth annual Mustang Band Camp. From Monday to Friday, the 37-member team held practice six hours a day in the school music room as well as on the football field to prepare for the upcoming football season and help incorporate new freshman band members into the routine.

Justin Cottrell, Capuchino High music instructor and marching band director, started the camp upon his arrival at Capuchino four years ago. Cottrell has since overseen the program and explains that the purpose of the summer camp is two-pronged.

“One purpose is to get a jumpstart on the music for the coming school year, and the other reason is that a lot of bands are kind of like a family,” said Cottrell, who began his music career at age 12. “It’s a time for the new kids to meet the kids that are returning and bond with them.”

“I always wanted to give kids the program that I didn’t have an opportunity to experience in high school,” Cottrell added.

Strong Similarities Between Band and Sports

Although marching bands normally serve as the entertainment at high school sporting events, Cottrell, a graduate of San Francisco State, said marching band maintains several comparisons with high school athletic programs.

In fact, on Friday, similar to a football practice, Cottrell moved his band’s practice from the football field to the music room, citing the rising outside temperature.

“It’s very similar in the sense that kids still work hard,” Cottrell said. “There’s a lot of discipline and a lot of dedication that’s involved with making a marching band look and sound fantastic. It’s a lot of hard work and investment that’s put on the field and in the music room.”

In addition to performing during and at halftime of each home football game, the Capuchino marching band also performs sets at home basketball games, participates in competitions throughout the year, and participates in the local concert festival circuit.

“It’s similar to the athletic teams that are preparing themselves for a successful season,” Cottrell continued. “Those teams really spend time and invest in knowing the drills or knowing the plays, and knowing the chemistry of their teammates. Band is very similar to that.”

Music Entertains and Motivates Others

The common stereotype in hollywood films, such as American Pie, is that band camps and bandmembers are "geeky" or "nerdy," but Cottrell, along with his students, would argue that marching band allows high school students to motivate others in a unique and admirable fashion.

“The things that make it different are that we’re motivating and inspiring and entertaining through music,” Cottrell said. “Music is one of those things that takes everything you’ve learned in school, combines it all, and creates something that moves people.”

Sophomore drum major Colleen Sammut, 15, said that as a former athlete, her experiences with sports fall short of re-creating the positive experiences she has encountered with marching band.

“It should be the same concept as athletics, but there’s a much closer bond in marching band,” said Sammut, who began her musical career at age 9. “I’ve been on sports teams and it’s nothing compared to how these kids work together.”

One of Cottrell’s key principles while directing the band is to allow the kids freedom to create, as well as feel self-sufficient.

The marching band employs the technique of leadership teams, which are essentially equivalent to team captains in sports fields.

According to Cottrell, a leadership team is responsible for adopting certain policies and implementing them within their fellow bandmates. Therefore, the band acts as a student unit with Cottrell overseeing from the perimeter.

“I like to incorporate a lot of ideas from the kids, as well as my own vision,” Cottrell said. “That way, it’s an easier way to convince the students to really have some buy-in. If you have a group of students that you’re confident enough where they can take care of the objective, then you’re giving power to them and within the group.”

Unity Promotes Growth in Numbers

Cottrell’s techniques have seen success at Capuchino and with the Mustang Band Camp, as he has seen the participation in the camp grow each year, as well as the band.

Last year’s version of the marching band was a collection of 25 students while the number for the upcoming year nears 40 students.

Cottrell credits the students’ ability to bond with one another as one of the main factors for the band's increase in numbers.

“Through the work that they’re doing and just their interaction with each other, the time they spend with each other, that’s real bonding time,” Cottrell said. “It’s very similar to what you experience on the athletic team because they experience and accomplish great things together.”

Sammut said that ever since she started with the marching band, it has taken over her life.

“Working with these kids, even just as a member last year, is incredible," she said. "All the team work and dedication you have to put into it, it’s so worth it.”