Excellence, tradition, class, family

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, July 12, 2023

The Athens High School Golden Eagle Marching Band Leadership Team recently returned from their 2023 Leadership Retreat where they learned skills that will be paramount as the prepare for the 2023-24 school year.

Choosing the students for the Leadership Team begins in the spring with an application and interview process. This year’s team is made of mostly of senior and juniors and a couple of sophomores.

“I interview each person that’s auditioning for Leadership Team. From there, I make the decision on who is going to be section leader and assistant section leader,” Parker said.

This is the third year Athens High School Band Director Ty Parker has traveled with the students on the Leadership Team to the Marshall Baptist Retreat Center on Lake Guntersville for team building. The teams stay in dorms on the waterfront.

“Several of the students hadn’t been before and they pictured us in tents and we get there and it’s a nice house with air conditioning,” Parker said.

For the two days the students stay at the retreat, they attend leadership seminars organized by Parker to demonstrate the style of leadership he expects from his student leaders in order to build a successful team.

“It’s a time to reflect on what our program means to us individually and what it means to us as a team. We chose Excellence, Tradition, Class, and Family as our four leadership traits we wanted to focus on, lead through and strive towards,” Parker said.

The students also have pool time, boat activities, and several team bonding activities. On the last night, the team is joined by alumni who share with them the important values they learned from being in the band.

“It’s a lot of fun, and a lot of work, but it’s worth it. To have the team spend time and bond with one another– studies show that creates a really strong team when you allow them a time to bond with one another,” Parker said. “You don’t realize the memories you make just being together at a campsite. It’s different.”

The Leadership Team will put the skills learned at the retreat to work starting next week as the Athens Golden Eagle Marching Band kicks-off their 2023 band camp.