Education & Youth | Music | Arts & Culture | James Hillhouse High School | Marching Band
Zariah Dumas lifted her saxophone in one hand, swaying in time with the drumline. In front of her, the keys and ligature caught in the light, sparkling against a column of blue and white balloons. Sound hammered through the floor, rolling over the carpet and surrounding the seats. Dumas took a breath, and flowed right into The Sugarhill Gang's "Jump On It."
In the second row, junior class vice president Johanelyz Arroyo watched every movement with a growing smile, her eyes dancing. If this was one way for the school to get its groove back, she was here for it.
Last Wednesday, those worlds collided at James Hillhouse High School, as the marching band helped pump up students before the annual Elm City Bowl. Despite not playing in the game due to drenching rains, the band became part of a growing attempt to breathe pep and camaraderie back into the school, at a time when many students say it's conspicuously absent.
Hillhouse ultimately won the game 43-0 against Wilbur Cross High School.
Luis Baez.
"We're trying to bring back school spirit," Dumas said. "It feels like I'm completing part of the puzzle."
"There's not really a lot of school spirit here," added Abby Heredia, a junior who has been playing the flute since the fifth grade, before Wednesday's all-school pep rally. When the band plays at games, "a lot of the people clapping are from the other team. I like being able to contribute."
If it's the band's charge, it's one that young musicians take seriously. Last Wednesday, members of the Marching Academics arrived before school had started, warming up before running the National Anthem in their bright white band room. Snug in their blue-and-white hoodies, they chatted between pieces, breaking into groups to run scales before heading to the auditorium.
Every so often, giggles rose up from a knot of students, making the room feel warm, easy before the long weekend.
"Yo, I had a dream that I was playing trombone!" Luis Baez exclaimed out of nowhere, and mellifluous peals of laughter followed.
Smith: Ready for anything.
On a whiteboard behind them, band director Joshua Smith had written a number of pieces they needed to be ready for, from Big Tymers' "Big Ballin" and Juvenile's "Back That Thang Up" to the J.B.'s old school "Pass The Peas." A Hillhouse alum who returned to teach in 2021, Smith often plays the trombone alongside the students. At this point, he could play the pieces in his sleep.
"My quote for the band is 'Be ready for anything,'" he said as he checked his watch and gave a countdown to showtime. If students were disappointed about the game, he added, they were doing their best to roll with it. "It's a bit unfortunate, but for me, it's just not a big deal. It's just life. Life happens."
As the rally got underway in Hillhouse's auditorium, students seemed to take that to heart. Piling into the orchestra pit, they sat shoulder-to-shoulder, quiet until it was time to kick things off. When they stood, horns led the charge, drums falling into line behind them. Woodwinds joined in, the sound splitting into thick, bright layers that got the audience cheering.
As she took her seat, Arroyo pulled out a phone encased in neon pink and began to record, half-standing as she balanced on the edge of the chair, then let it fall forward with a thunk. A princess in the Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven pageant who is the vice president of her junior class, said that she sees and feels a lack of Hillhouse spirit among her peers.
As a member of the student council, she's already started thinking of ways to boost morale, including surveys and polls asking students what they'd like to see. Events like the pep rally are part of that, she said. Wednesday, the band had helped lift her out of the wintry doldrums and focus on spending time with other students.
"I feel like the marching band really gets the rhythm in your bones," she said. "We should be trying to find ways to make students want to come to school."
Sophomore Julius Sinclaro: "Music lifts everybody's spirits."
Amidst cheerleading routines, student council shout outs and appearances from all of the sports teams, the band kept that momentum going. At one point, it was a bouncing, spirited take on Experience Unlimited's "Da' Butt," with percussion that got at least a few attendees fully on their feet. At another, it was a heart-thumping take of "Jump On It," with horns that nearly growled and purred as the band neared the hook.
As he listened, sophomore Julius Sinclaro said the band is part of his love for Hillhouse, where his dad is also an alum. When he was a student at Achievement First Amistad Academy Middle School "there were many fights," and it gave him anxiety about going to school. He was able to let go of that when he was playing in the drumline. While he doesn't play in the Marching Academics, he's thought multiple times about joining the band.
"I love when they play! Music lifts everybody's spirits," he said. "They seem like they know what they doing."
Senior Elizabeth Mufungizi (in top photo): The band helps get her hype.
Nearby, senior Badu Smart agreed. For him, this year—which also includes a position on the student council—is about getting through the hard work that will catapult him to college, where he plans to study health sciences.
Even in student leadership, he doesn't see much school spirit, he said. "Day to day, no one goes into school with the intention of repping their school," he said.
But Wednesday morning, "I heard the school band, and it made me very hype and excited to do the event," he added. He hopes that it can do that for fellow young people too.
Back inside the auditorium, the band was getting the crowd ready to send the football team to victory with a musical flourish. As she watched, senior Elizabeth Mufungizi cheered them on. The week before, she came dressed as the Lorax to school during spirit week. Maybe for that reason, she appreciates the commitment of band members. "It gets me hype," she said.
"A lot of kids are scared to participate [in school spirit]," she said. "They might feel a little corny. But I know that I'm being myself."