EUGENE, Mo. - For a high school band whose members have an average age of 13, the Marching Eagles put on a first-place performance their first time at the Missouri Homecoming contest this fall.
The Eugene High School band of five upperclassmen and 19 middle schoolers has made marked improvement through their 2014 marching season. And the younger students are hoping it's a trend they will improve on in years to come.
They are hanging up their contest season song, "What Does the Fox Say?" for the Christmas favorite "Jingle Bells," which they will be playing Saturday at the Eldon Christmas parade and later for the Rolla Christmas parade Dec. 6.
"This has been one of our best years," said Lydia Bond, a senior who plays lead saxophone.
Of the many improvements was the larger drumline, said sophomore McKinley Daniels.
"Our sound was stronger," she said. "We've really stepped it up this year; it was pretty great."
Director Erika DeMoss is in her second year at Eugene and fifth year teaching.
"The doors are open to build the program," she said. "It's exciting to see what will happen through the next few years."
DeMoss does not measure success by numbers but by quality.
"I want them to enjoy the process and making music," she said. "It teaches them life and responsibility, how to be an adult and to be proud of something."
One of her priorities is catching the interest of fifth and sixth graders to build the program from an earlier age. A co-teaching classroom this year has helped.
"I think the sky is the limit for this program," DeMoss said. "We can be who we are with the numbers we have."
At the Columbia event, several large school bands marched around them, but competed in a different category. They took criticism and insults from some of the members of larger schools and people along the parade route.
Eighth-grader Roby Hodges said she felt that actually motivated the Eugene members to prove them wrong. Apparently, they did.
"We're in this together," flute-player Stephanie Belt added.
Since August, the band has improved its footwork, tuning and formations. But divided by two different class periods, finding time to practice together was challenging.
"There's a certain way she wanted us to walk," Hodges said. "It looked a lot better than before."
Eighth graders Montana Libbert, Belt and Hodges marched in the 2013 Christmas parades as seventh graders, wearing matching T-shirts.
Putting on the real uniforms gave them a sense of pride, they said. But negotiating all the pieces and carrying the weight were a little harder to deal with.
"We looked good, though," Libbert said.
Marching in step, in front of a crowd after weeks of practice brought the group together, though upperclassmen emphasized there is a pecking order.
"I feel we've done our job as seniors, to instill in them what the high schoolers did with us," Bond said. "It's like an induction so when they're high schoolers, they can pass it down."
To the eighth graders, they look up to older students who are proficient at a skill - like Lyndsie Allen on flute or Lydia Bond in marching steps.
"It doesn't have to do with age or grade but on quality," Hodges said.
As they become freshmen next year, the eighth graders said they have a mixture of nerves and excitement.
"High school means we have an image," Hodges said. "The seventh and eighth graders will compare themselves to us; we'll be the role models."
Most band members agree the best part is not the performance or the trophies, it's the satisfaction afterward that they share with each other.
But, they hope to see more wins in the future, said freshman Allen.
Now, they're looking forward to pep band with its fun, popular songs and crowd participation.
As a member of the Spirit Committee, DeMoss said building a successful band program fits in with building other successful programs from basketball and softball to FBLA and FFA.
"We want our kids to have pride in every aspect of this school," DeMoss said.