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Band Director Evan Copeland said he got goosebumps as he watched a marching band rehearsal at Perquimans County High School (PCHS) — this wasn’t a typical rehearsal.
As the school and community was coming together to celebrate the school’s 100th year, Copeland had the idea to ask the school’s marching band alumni to play with current students for a unique football game performance.
“It’s not every year that any school in North Carolina has their centennial — it’s a really rare thing,” Copeland said.
At a Sept. 20 football game between the PCHS Pirates and Wake Preparatory Academy, the alumni performed alongside the current Marching Pirates, reliving the joy of performing with their friends years later.
“(Marching band) is one of the only times in life where you truly are a part of something that’s bigger than you,” Copeland said. “It’s hard to explain if you haven’t done it, but it’s just a magical feeling. I’ve had alumni coming to me all day saying that this just feels surreal. For people who haven’t touched a horn in over 30 years, they feel like they’re on another planet right now.”
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Marching Pirates sail through the generations
It all started as a Facebook post from Copeland reaching out to marching band alumni. Copeland said the post got more than 100 shares in just 48 hours.
“I just lit the fire and the alumni did the rest,” he said.
Alumni present for the special performance ranged all the way from the class of 1981 to the class of 2023, according to Copeland.
“It’s really cool for my kids to see such a diverse age range, too, of people that are still passionate about music,” he said.
A highlight for Copeland was finding all of the band uniforms from the past four decades for the members of the honor guard to wear. Each uniform was kept in a display case except for the original, which was offered up by an alumni who had kept it all these years.
Copeland said he used Google Drive and email to distribute the music to former students. The first time the group of the returning former Marching Pirates performed together was the night of the game.
The alumni rehearsed the music for an hour before joining the current students in a 40 minute rehearsal during which they performed the music and learned the drill for the evening’s performance.
Intergenerational connections between students and alumni are important to foster mentorship and respect, said Perquimans County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tanya Turner.
Turner said the school system is the largest employer in the county and called it the “heartbeat” of the community.
“There is a lot of pride in this community and there’s a lot of tradition in this community,” she said. “So I think that when we have events like this, it just gives people the opportunity who still consider themselves very much a part of the Pirate family to be able to come out and celebrate how much this community means to them.”
The lasting effects of arts education
Perquimans County Schools offer a great deal of opportunities in the arts and otherwise, Turner said, as academic performance tends to improve when students are engaged in extracurriculars.
In Copeland’s classroom, he said he lives by the motto of “making better people first, making better musicians second.” Music and other arts are an integral part of developing the individual behind the student, he said.
“Being in the arts, just over all, it’s more than just the product — it’s what it takes to get there,” Copeland said. “It teaches kids work ethic, it teaches kids how to be friends in a diverse group of people. You really do get all walks of life that come together as one.”
PCHS alum and euphonium player Keith Elliot, who graduated in 2020, said he fell in love with marching band in high school, and it helped him maintain a good mindset and improved his focus in school. For him, the performance with the current students was an emotional experience.
“It brought back a whole lot of memories from my time being in the marching band,” Elliot said. “They’re memories I’ll cherish the rest of my life, so to come back and be a part of that was an absolutely amazing experience.”
For current PCHS student Skylar Dolchok, the night was particularly special as she got the chance to play alongside her older sister for the first time.
“It was really nice,” Dolchock said. “I always wanted to do that.”
Raven Cole, who graduated in 2003, said she was happy with the turnout for the event and said the experience was amazing.
“It’s wonderful to see the program is still going strong,” Cole said. “And as alumni we love to know how we can support — keep it going for future generations.”
Participating in band during high school was especially influential for Cole, who said her band director inspired her future career.
“From that moment on that was my goal,” Cole said. “And so I’m a band director today because of my experience in marching band.”
Copeland said he hopes students learned through the participation of former students how their experiences in band will remain with them long after graduation.
“These memories really do follow you for life,” he said.
