The high school marching band’s drum line heralds the start of a fresh school year.

Chris Snyder, band director at Deer Lakes High School, wasn’t going to let a pandemic kill that tradition.

Since March, Deer Lakes students — like high schoolers nationwide — haven’t participated in school events, seen their friends or kept a consistent routine. Snyder hoped the marching band could change all that, as he launched their annual band camp Monday.

“Speaking with my kids the last couple days, I think they are super excited to be back,” Snyder said. “It’s a taste of normalcy. Just the opportunity to be in the same space as their friends is really exciting for them.”

Many of the students in the marching band have been playing their instruments for years, Snyder said. For them, getting back to music is the first step in getting back to normal.

Greta Olexa, a junior with the Deer Lakes marching band, has been playing baritone for seven years. Though she was subjected to a temperature check and required to wear a mask inside the building, she said being at band camp made her life feel a little more normal.

“I’m excited to be back,” she said. “It’s a bit different, but it still has the same energy.”

Kiley Bier, a freshman baritone player, said she also was glad to be back with the band.

“It gets me out of the house,” she said. “I’m back with all my friends.”

Snyder serves as the president of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association, which allows him to communicate frequently with other local high school band directors. He said most schools in the area are similarly trying to resume band operations while abiding by covid-19 regulations.

New Kensington-Arnold is resuming its marching band. In March, a confirmed covid-19 case was linked to a band trip attended by more than 100 students, staff and chaperones. School officials confirmed band practices had begun, but the band director could not be reached for comment.

Though they’re eager to start practicing again, bands won’t have the season they were expecting this year. Competitive performances have been nixed, forcing Snyder to change his tune regarding the goals he sets for the band this year.

“We’re going to make things strictly for the love of music,” Snyder said.

The same rings true at Mt. Lebanon, where band director Jason Cheskawich said he doesn’t know when — or if — the marching band will perform for a conventional audience.

“We’ve always talked about the process being more important than the product. Now we have to walk the walk,” Cheskawich said. “It’s more about the process than ever before. That’s actually liberating, not having the pressure of always performing.”

Even though competitions are canceled and crowded football games are unlikely, band still is worth the time and effort for Tristan Hineman, the drum major at Deer Lakes High School.

“Marching band is about the experience,” Hineman said. “It’s just staying optimistic, staying motivated, even though we don’t get to perform.”

Hempfield’s marching band is facing the same situation, band director Brian Tychinski said. He’s not sure if they’ll be allowed to play at football games — and he doubts they’d have an audience anyway.

But his band of about 150 students was eager to play when band camp began Monday at Hempfield Park.

“It was like coming into Santa’s workshop,” he said, applauding the students who showed up over an hour early to help set up for an outdoor practice, complete with health screening stations. “They were very excited. It was a tremendous feeling.”

Tychinski said he’s planning to hold an outdoor concert-style performance if they can’t play at football games.

The practices even look a little different this year, with many schools opting for outdoor practices. They’re also implementing mask policies, temperature checks and social distancing requirements.

Mt. Lebanon’s band will be breaking into smaller groups to practice. Cheskawich is hopeful that he’ll get the whole band back together sometime — but right now, he’s willing to do whatever it takes keep the band marching at all.

“Right now, we’re preparing for anything,” he said. “Tomorrow, it can completely change.”

Despite the uncertainty and ever-changing covid-19 guidelines, band directors and students seem to agree they just couldn’t give up on band.

Kelly Rerko, director of the Color Guard at Deer Lakes High School, said there were lots of reasons to keep the band going during these difficult times.

“I think a lot of it is just providing some consistency,” she said. “We don’t want to ignore skills development.”

She’s particularly eager to give the senior class a fun memory of their last year in the school’s marching band.

According to Tychinski, band is more important this year than ever before.

“When we have some kind of disaster, the first thing we do is look to our arts to give us comfort and solace,” he said. “We need these arts now more than ever. The kids — and the grown-ups — need those creative outlets.”

“The benefits are very similar to what you would find in any athletic activity — working hard to accomplish a common goal and working hard to be excellent,” Cheskawich said, adding that the structure and socialization also were imperative to students who have lacked both in recent months.

Snyder and Chewskawich did acknowledge that a few students have quit their bands because of coronavirus concerns.

But for the most part, students are glad to be marching to the beat of a familiar drum line.

“They are absolutely elated that we are getting together. The vast majority of those kids are just so excited to have a normal routine, see their friends and make music again,” Cheskawich said.

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