Band camp at Gautier High kicks off with safety precautions in place

Today was the second day of band camp for Gautier High School.

This year, band camp is unlike any other for these Gautier Gators. All students must check in and get their temperature checked and are required to wear a mask when they are not playing their instruments.

Typically band camp is two weeks long and each student is at camp for a total of 80 hours. This year, Gautier High has made it that each kid will be at camp for only eight hours.

The band directors’ goals are to teach as much as they can in as little time as possible to limit exposure.

The students have had their music for a couple of weeks now and at camp they learn the marching fundamentals so that they can practice at home.

The students discovered they were going to have a band camp in June over a Google Meet call.  Drum Major Jourdan Friley said, “People have been actually pretty excited. Everybody was worried. Parents were worried because of COVID and things like that. Freshmen are coming in and I don’t know how this will work with COVID so everybody was nervous initially. As soon as they got here everybody felt the security and safeness and saw the precautions so everybody was sure it was going to be okay at the end of the day.”

Gautier High School is expecting to have a football season this fall so the band is planning on performing during halftime.