What’s up Winter Guard

Nathan Mitchell, Staff Writer • April 9, 2024

Our full Winter Guard Team

Two weeks ago, our school’s winter Color Guard team went to the FFCC Championship, where they competed against teams from across Florida and Georgia. We interviewed some of the team members to learn more about the competition and their headspace going in. We also learned more about what it means to be a part of the color guard team.

First off, we wanted to find out what Color Guard is and what makes people enjoy it so much. As we found out, everyone has different reasons for joining Color Guard. Dylan England, a sophomore, told us that he decided to join Color Guard after he watched a competition and realized there were more men in the sport than he thought and that it’s not only a women’s sport. Jailynn Ramos, a junior, told us how she joined because it was a way to reignite her childhood passion for dancing. One student, a senior and fellow staff writer for The Blue and White Giahnie Germain, had a more interesting story to tell about her joining the Color Guard. “My friend convinced me to come to their practice. And at first, I was just kidding and said, ‘I’ll think about it.’ You know how when you’re walking in the mall, and a salesperson comes up to you and you accidentally stop even though you didn’t want to? It was like that, so I ended up going to tryouts, and I actually wanted to continue performing.”

We then asked the team members about the competition, and Giahnie summed up the experience expertly: “The recent championships were so good. It was my first time and there were a lot of memories to be made. We got to take pictures on the beach and eat good concession stand food. And the retreat was magical because of all the lights and stuff like that. Although I wish we would get a better placement. I was expecting third overall, and we got fifth. But that’s okay. There’s a first time for everything.”

Finally, the team told us why they think others should try out for Color Guard. Dylan had this to say: “I would recommend them to join Color Guard because it’s a fun sport, and it’s like a second home or family. You will always have people there for you when you’re down, no matter the situation, will have an amazing experience because when you spend a couple of months learning a show and you go perform it and you get top three, you will feel like a champ.”

If you would like to join the Color Guard for the 2024 season auditions are being held at the main campus cafeteria on May 7th-9th 4pm-8pm

About the Contributor

Nathan Mitchell, Staff Writer

Hi! My name is Nathan Mitchell, and I’m a senior at Apopka High School. This is my first year with The Blue and White and I’m very excited to be a part of this staff. My favorite pastime is reading, and my favorite genres are romance and action/adventure. My favorite book of all time has to be Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt which is a wholesome mystery novel involving an elderly woman and--of all things--an Octopus. My other pastime is needle-arts, specifically cross-stitch. Last year I was president of our school's Needle Arts Club and plan to continue doing it this year, so look out for more information about that! Above all else, I love my job. I’m a dog sitter and sit for this huge Great Dane named Luke, he’s bigger than I am but such a sweetheart. I also love music, I did chorus for six years and have been playing piano for one. I first started learning the piano because my grandmother is the only one in the family who plays and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. Currently, I'm having a great time exploring jazz music and trying to learn how to play jazz piano. My hope for this year is to put out some great articles and have a good time!