The Marching Patriots at Colonia High School plays a very big part in Colonia High School’s beloved football team, but that isn’t their only accomplishment.
The Marching Patriots consist of the marching band and the color guard. The color guard and marching band performs at every football game at Colonia High School and the marching band travels with them to away games. Not only do they play for games they play in many parades and community functions.
For the games, the color guard makes their debut at halftime at all Colonia High School games weather permitting with the band making it a whole Colonia High School experience.
The Marching Patriots get the crowd at games excited. They play whenever our football team needs some hype or when the Patriots score. The person behind Colonia High School’s Marching Patriots is Mr. Kevin Perdoni who is also the band teacher at Colonia High School. Perdoni makes all the decisions when it comes to the Marching Patriots although he has assistants and the band parent organization.
The band is made up of wind and percussion students. To join the band you do not have to have an audition. Any student in grades 8-12 can join the Marching Patriots. The Marching Patriots perform from August through May.
Besides performing at games the Colonia High School’s Marching Patriots including the band and the color guard compete in competitions against other schools and their bands. They are part of the USBAND circuit. Competitions happen on weekends on Saturday at 7 o’clock at night.
The Colonia High School Marching Patriots are very active in the community. They perform in many parades throughout the community. Some of the parades they perform in are the Woodbridge’s Veterans Day Parade, Woodbridge Holiday Parade, Memorial Day Parade, and many more parades around Woodbridge Township.
This 2015 school year the Marching Patriots have beat their highest record. The Marching Patriots scored first place finishes and 10 individual caption awards.
Overall, Colonia High School’s Marching Patriots are making some noise; they are beating records and pepping up the school for football games and pep rallies.
Color Guard
Photo used with permission from Colonia_band, Mr. Perdoni.
Colonia High School Color Guard is a big part in the Marching Band. They usually practice for 2-3 hours, sometimes every day. To get the desired scores, they practice excessively. You know what they say, ‘Practice makes perfect.’ During competition season, they practice everyday for long amounts of time. Before school even resumes in September, there is a semi- mandatory band camp during the first week of the month of August from the first to eighth. For football games and competitions, they usually don’t perform in the rain but if it’s too cold they have to suffer through it.
Their choice of props are flags and rifles. Since they are a part of the Marching Patriots, the Color Guard performs at half time at the school football games and during Marching Band competitions. Some students don’t like to go when it’s cold, windy and raining but they endure it cause it comes with the job.
You cannot miss the Color Guard section only because they wear a bright hot pink dress shirt with bow ties, suspenders and black pants topped with a black hat this year. They also sit in the same place (more or less) during the whole game except at half time where they go on the field and show what they got.
The songs are not chosen by the students but by their Band Teacher Mr. Kevin Perdoni. Sophomore Hannah Corpuz said, “ He usually likes Jazzy songs for us to do most of the time.”
The Color Guard is inspired to get their score up in competitions against other schools. Every year they switch up the songs a little bit so there can be a variation between years. Some students write some songs but for performances they usually use cover songs. Sophomore Destiny Davis even stated, “ We should do some Beyoncé or Michael Jackson, I think it would change it up a little.”
Musicians
Photo used with permission from Colonia_band, Mr. Perdoni.
Colonia High School Band considers this year to be the best year ever. They got first place three times, ten individual caption awards, (Best Music, Best Effect, Best Visual, Best Guard, etc.) and they’re top ten in states. They even broke a new high score of, 90.75 in the USBAND competitions. After asking Mr. Perdoni, the CHS Band teacher, what he did differently this year, he said, “Our music was arranged for us by a composer in Michigan. It was tailored to our strengths. We also brought in a guest clinician. We modified our show at the halfway point more than ever before.”
Aside from the amazing accomplishments, they have been asked to represent New Jersey at the 2016 National Memorial Parade in Washington D.C. The band will be broadcast on PBS and seen by over 1.5 million. This extraordinary band has done amazing things. They have performed for the maiden voyage of Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas ship, and has traveled to Boston, Cleveland, Virginia, Washington DC, and Walt Disney World in Florida five times. These exceptional players perform in any weather. Discussing weather conditions Mr. Perdoni said, “we were lucky it only rained once this season. Cold is okay, but wet weather is bad for the instruments.”
Colonia High School Band consists of many winds, and percussion players from grades eight through twelve, who are extremely dedicated and proud to do what they do. These talented young performers always play in varsity football games, pep rallies, community functions, parades, and many more.
This fantastic group of band members is very inspiring to many. Many would want to know what inspires them. When Mr. Perdoni was asked he said, “Commitment to a common goal. To push ourselves more than we thought we could to increase our scores each week.”
There’s so much to love about Colonia High School’s Marching Patriots. From their dedicated instructors, to their very talented musicians, twirlers, and dancers, it is very obvious that every Marching Patriot is important and very involved. These talented performers truly make their performances the best it can be.
