FDN sparks joy in local marching band community

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (FDN) – For their senior impact project, television production majors Ash Weill and Miranda Gust set out to spark joy in the marching band community. They partnered with the Carroll High School Charger Pride marching band led by Director Doug Hassell and Assistant Director Phil Frazier to create memorable promotional videos for the band this fall semester.

During their competition season, the Chargers rose to the occasion and achieved first place at the Goshen Invitational, advanced at the BOA Dayton Regional Prelims, ninth place at the BOA Dayton Regional Finals, first place at Homestead’s Fall Festival of Bands Invitational, and gold at the ISSMA Scholastic Prelims.

Gust and Weill documented the band’s journey to Lucas Oil Stadium as they advanced with golds at the ISSMA Regionals and Semi-State. Charger Pride placed seventh at the ISSMA state finals.

Hassell works hard with his team to turn a group of students with a common interest into a functioning unit. He inspires each one to be better than they ever thought they could be.

The band has 177 members and they all work together to create a show stopping performance. Charger Pride aspires to continue to push the boundaries of what they can do.

Regionals

In the first documented band competition, “Saturday at Regionals” garnered more than 1,600 views on YouTube with many supporting comments.

Semi-State

Semi-State was the event when our team really began to hear the emotional impact of our senior project on the families of the band members. The parents were overjoyed and thanked our team for capturing the students’ memories. Hassell also began showing the videos to aspiring middle schoolers in hopes of recruitment in the future.

State

The state competition was the ultimate opportunity for these students. Band members were thankful to be seen and for their story to be heard. This project not only impacted existing students, but many future band members for years to come.