By Lily Bauer, Hallee Inman, Gracie Pfautsch, JaKai Robinson and Meghan Rose
On March 17, St. Charles hosted a vibrant St. Patrick’s Day Parade that proudly marched down Main Street. The parade began at 4 p.m. and lasted for an hour, featuring a wide variety of elaborate decorations and performances. Among the highlights were Orchard Farm High School's Marching Band, cheer team, and dance team, all bringing energy and school spirit to the event.
Inside Scoop: Student Performers Reflect
What performance did you showcase for the parade?
- Marching Band: "We performed our pep tunes, Louie Louie and Industry Baby, along with drum cadences in between." – Max Sarino
- Dance: "Our assistant coach choreographed two sidelines that go with the band songs for cheer and dance." – Constanza brothers
What were your thoughts on performing on this favored holiday?
- Marching Band: "Most of my thoughts were about keeping my feet in time – one of the most important things to marching is stepping on the right foot, so I always make sure my left foot is landing on the downbeat." – Makayla Turntine
- Cheer: "I really enjoyed performing there and I think it was a lot of fun as well as a cool thing to do as a team." – Izzy Castillo
- Dance: "I was thinking ‘Why did it have to be this cold?’" – Aubryn Loggins
How would you describe your experience performing?
- Marching Band: "The St. Patrick’s Day parade is a super fun experience! It's a great way to bring Marching Band back to the end of the year as we start to talk about what the next marching season will look like." – Makayla Turntine
- Cheer: "I would describe it as a good team bonding activity that also spread school spirit and gave us more experience on doing social events such as that." – Izzy Castillo
- Dance: "It was exciting to see everyone there, but it was very cold that day, but overall everyone looked like they were having fun." – Constanza Brothers
What was your favorite part about performing?
- Marching Band: "My favorite part about performing is getting to do something I love with the people who mean so much to me." – Savannah McCabe
- Cheer: "My favorite part about performing was being able to leave school early and then to shop on main street." – Charlotte Boschert
- Dance: "My favorite part about performing was all the little faces from the crowd smiling and waving at me." – Aubryn Loggins
What went into the preparation for your group’s performance?
- Marching Band: "We only needed less than a week to prep for the parade, however, I took several weeks to organize rehearsals for drum-line to practice our wide variety of drum cadences, including ones we created ourselves." – Max Sarino
- Cheer: "We actually didn’t prep much at all, it was maybe 20 minutes at school before we left and then another 10ish minutes before the parade started." – Izzy Castillo
- Dance: "We got videos of the sidelines sent to us one week before the parade and we learned it on our own because a lot of people were busy." – Constanza Brothers
What do you think Orchard Farm accomplished with this display?
- Marching Band: "I feel we accomplished a lot! We worked hard to put it all together, and we were able to provide our community with a wonderful performance! This opportunity exposes the community to our program and hopefully inspires future students to be involved in the performing arts!" – Savannah McCabe
- Cheer: "I think the cheer team accomplished learning how to be in front of that much pressure and do well." – Charlotte Boschert
- Dance: "I think we accomplished thugging out the cold, to be for real." – Aubryn Loggins
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade was a memorable event for Orchard Farm students, giving them a chance to showcase their talents, bond as teams, and spread school spirit throughout the community. Go green!