Blue Devils Attend Drum Major Academy
Preparations for the coming Blue Devil marching band competitive season have continued unabated this summer. A contingent of members spent a week on the campus of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, participating in the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy.
Blue Devil drum majors Jeffrey Bishop, Katherine Johnson and Diya Kapur along with color guard captains Samantha Lobue and Carolyn Mohlenhoff received musical conducting instruction and evaluation and learned and practiced positive and effective teaching techniques. The group was also provided with leadership and communication strategies it can use as the student leaders of this year’s Huntington marching band.
The color guard captains learned leadership techniques similar to the drum majors, but instead of receiving conducting instruction, the teenagers learned a flag and “weapon” routine and strategies they can employ to effectively teach the other members of the Blue Devil color guard.
The students attended the academy independent of school sponsorship. The teenagers paid for the week long venture and the Blue Devil Band Parents’ Association contributed a partial scholarship to each to lessen the final cost.
Brian Stellato, a Huntington music teacher and assistant director of the Blue Devil marching band was with the students in Massachusetts as a member of the instructional staff of the drum major academy. Mr. Stellato said the Huntington student leaders had an “amazing, inspiring and motivating week.” 
This week, the Blue Devils are participating in the school’s annual marching band camp, which runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day at the school. A show for band families will be performed next Sunday at 2 p.m. There are many pieces to a successful band season puzzle and Huntington hopes the drum major academy is one of them.
"Our band and color guard leaders had an exciting week at DMA,” Mr. Stellato said. “The leadership and life skills they learned can be applied not only to band but also to their classes at school and their everyday lives. These students left DMA full of great information and a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm."
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