Later this October, the AHS marching band and color guard will be participating in the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association (VBODA) State Marching Assessment with many other high schools from all over Virginia.

“I am preparing by working hard during rehearsal and practice and I try to treat all of my practices like I’m in a competition,” said junior saxophonist Andrew Risse.

The Marching Atoms have practice three times each week and each practice is approximately two and a half hours long. The students are also encouraged to practice at least once a week on their own.

The VBODA State Marching Assessment will be held on Saturday, Oct. 30, at West Springfield High School. AHS is one of the 25 high school marching bands participating in this assessment. The State Marching Assessment will begin at 9 a.m. and the Marching Atoms will perform in class AAA at 11:15 a.m.

“We just continue to work on our field show and practice to make the performance better,” said first year band director, Andrew Loft. “We need to get every note in the right place, every step in the right place, and every horn in the right direction.”

There is a total of six different categories in which the Marching Atoms will be assessed and judged on. The categories include their music, the general effect, percussion, color guard, class and how they look visually. These assessments present an opportunity for the band to perform in front of a panel of judges in which the judges compute the bands performances based off of a rubric.

The Atoms have previously performed at two other assessments this year: the Woodbridge Viking Invitational and the Manasass Park Fall Classic. In the Viking invitational, the Marching Atoms placed third in their overall class. At the Fall Classic, the Atoms received scores of first place in music, second in visual, second in general effect, third in percussion, third in color guard, and second in their class.

The state assessment will be the Marching Atoms’ last time competing against other schools for the 2010-2011 school year. “I am very excited since it is my last year with the band and [the outcome of states] will be the culmination of all of our efforts over the year,” said senior drum major, Lillian Singer.

Just before the State Marching Assessment, the AHS Symphonic Band, the highest level of band, will be playing a concert here at AHS on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.