It’s the middle of the game, you hear the percussion, listen to the flutes and trumpets, start humming to the song they’ve started to play, and from behind you catch a glimpse of the flags. 

But what does that mean? What aspect of the show does Color Guard serve the Marching Atoms?

Senior Jackson Ramos, who has been a part of Color Guard for the past two years and currently serves as Co-captain of the team, shared the role he believed Color Guard had in the Marching Atoms.

“We are definitely the more visual aspect of the show,” he said, “Although the band does visual as well, we add more to it to help make it a better show.”

Marching Atoms Director, Joseph Witkowski, shared a similar belief when he said, “Guard has almost exclusive visual performance responsibility in the Marching Atoms.”

And indeed they do, with the flags, riffled, swing flags, and various other equipment they use. They twist, turn, and have an impeccable choreography that coordinates with the music being played certainly makes the show more amazing to watch. 

Preparing the performances is no easy task, however. 

“There is a tremendous amount of demand in respect to body fitness and body movements for the performers,” Witkowski said. 

Guard instructor, Shannon Lewandowski , elaborated more on this, “Color guard has to learn how to spin, how dance, how to perform, and how to march,” she said, “It’s three more things than what the band does, but they have been pushing it all season so far.”

Shannon Lewandowski and Christina Robinson are relatively new instructors for Color Guard, hired last year by Joseph Witkowski.
“They were looking for someone to do the choreography,” Robinson said, “I came here, fell in love with the kids, fell in love with the activities, and we’ve been trucking along ever since.”

The two have been friends for a very long time and have worked together on other occasions. 

“We do other groups outside of this,” Lewandowski said, “We met in college and have been doing this together for the last couple of years, but last season we got hired by Mr. Witkowski and it’s been pretty surreal ever since.”

While the instructors have many goals for Color Guard, their main hope is making sure they improve as performers.

“I want to take what they have and what they’ve learned, and give them the tools to move forward,” Robinson said, “I want them to become bigger and better performers. I want them to get a lot more comfortable with performance and open their mind to bigger things.”

Jackson Ramos also shared how they prepare for competition. 

“We prepare with each rehearsal,” he said, “We try to learn at least one thing every time and do a lot of repetition.”

Color Guard looks forward to giving their best performances and continuing their legacies alongside the Marching Atoms.