Vikings march to beat
of winning drum

By Monica Au-Yeung
For the Times

It’s no bells and whistles for the Northeast High School marching band, just high school students marching perfectly in step to a cadence and putting up their instruments at exactly the same time to play a tune.
Not only can the marching band be heard playing for its school, it can be heard throughout Philadelphia and its surrounding areas.
The band, which includes instrumentalists as well as color guard, started its year by performing its halftime show at Northeast’s home football games. These football games were just practice in preparation for the band’s first official event of the year.
"The marching band set a goal last year to enter the competition arena for the first time in the history of the school, if not the city," said William Wenglicki, the band’s conductor.
On Nov. 4, the marching band took its Blues Brothers show to the Tip of the Hat competition hosted by Hatboro-Horsham High School.
"(It was) our first year going out and really showing our stuff," said senior Jadier Agosto, who plays the quad toms for the marching band. "It was such a great experience to have an audience there to watch us and not football."
After all the other bands had performed and the night came to a close, the bands anticipated the voice that would come on the loudspeaker. Finally, a voice resounded throughout the field, saying, "And coming in first place for the Freedom Division, Northeast High School."
The competition at Hatboro-Horsham was only the first of many appearances by the band.
On Nov. 19, the band took part in the Mayfair-Holmesburg Thanksgiving Parade to kick off the start of the holiday festivities. Along with some holiday music like Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells, the band also played music from its new halftime set, Tiger of San Pedro and In the Stone.
"The parade was a lot of fun. It was great hearing the band play Christmas music and it was exciting seeing them perform," said band parent Lynda Atkinson.
The next event on the band’s schedule was the annual Thanksgiving day game against rival school Central. The band had completed one of the goals that it had set by going into competition, but, "We also set a goal to learn a new marching band show to perform on Thanksgiving morning," Wenglicki said.
"We learned our new show in less than a month. It took a lot of commitment and some cold weather, but we got it done. Nothing a windbreaker, a couple of hoodies and a coat couldn’t fix," Agosto said.
Although Thanksgiving morning proved to be cold and rainy, the band and color guard members were stationed and ready at the starting point of the parade at precisely 9:30 a.m.
Starting at the Wendy’s restaurant at Cottman and Bustleton avenues, the band members, wearing ponchos over their uniforms, marched back to Northeast High School, making their first stop the gymnasium, where the alumni breakfast was taking place.
Standing in formation, the band played a few numbers, ending with Hail Northeast, the school song. Coming out from the gym, the band headed for the football field, where it played The Star-Spangled Banner, initiating the beginning of the Thanksgiving game.
By the time the scoreboard showed that it was two minutes to halftime, the band had already lined up by the side of the field, ready to march on.
"The band’s performance was good and we added a little bit of humor by shouting, ‘Beat Central’ (in the halftime show). Luckily, we did (beat them)," said sophomore clarinetist Geraldine Vargas.
Even though Thanksgiving had ended, the demand for the Northeast marching band had not.
The band made yet another appearance at City Hall’s tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 29. In the presence of several newspaper and TV news reporters, the band entertained the crowd by playing a few Christmas selections, its halftime songs and its school song to show its Northeast pride.
"I thought the tree-lighting ceremony was great, and I think the people enjoyed listening to us, and I hope we helped get their holiday season off to a good start," said sophomore mellophone player Nicholas Lepkowski.
After taking part in all of these events, the marching band is slowly transitioning into concert band, the other branch of the band. However, the band still has many events planned for the coming months.
"Now, we plan on setting our sights on building up the band and color guard even more as the current school year progresses so that we are in position to enter more competitions next year and make it to the championships," Wenglicki said. "The marching band is planning on performing at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Center City and the Memorial Day Parade in Bridesburg.
"The marching band also hopes to perform its ‘Blues Brothers Show’ at a Philadelphia Soul football game during the winter months. If everything works out the right way, the marching band may even perform in Disney World for the first time ever next year. Our potential for success is unlimited if we put our mind to it, and so far we have proven this to be true."
The Vikings are one of the few marching bands in the Philadelphia region that does the many events that this band does, according to junior Theresa Heil, the color guard captain.
"I think it’s great," she said. "It’s time for us to shine. We get opportunities that they (other bands) don’t have."
In the public eye, the band is seen as one unit. However, there are still individual people who make up this unit.
"I think that the band is comprised of ordinary, down-to-earth, easygoing people who just want to have fun doing something they love. What I love about band is that it brings together people of different cultures and backgrounds and allows them to work together to strive for the same goal, which is to sound great," said senior clarinetist Janelly Rodriguez.
Added junior saxophonist Steven Christopher: "I noticed that everyone helps each other out, and on the whole, we’re all pretty good friends."
The willingness to help that circulates throughout the band is one of the changes that take place within people when taking part in a program such as band, and the music program overall.
"Taking part in the band for the past three years has allowed me to acquire a strong sense of responsibility, dedication, perseverance, cooperation and leadership," Rodriguez said.
There is also a positive outlook coming from parents as well.
"I’m glad they still have the music program in the school, as it seems like that is always one of the first programs to get cut," Atkinson said. "It is a good program. It keeps her (my daughter) busy and she enjoys it. I love going to the performances and I like watching the marching band perform."
The band members spend countless hours to prepare what they have to display to the public, but they do not complain.
"Every student in the band understands the sacrifices and extra time they need to invest in order to be successful on their instruments and on the marching band field as a unit. We all choose to spend time with each other because we have similar talents, which inspire us to set goals and achieve great things together," Wenglicki said.
"Music is a social, intellectual and fun experience that everyone can enjoy. It provides an outlet for us to express our emotions through sound. At Northeast High School, we learn through working hard, maintaining discipline and focusing our talents and energy to create lifelong memories of our time together in high school, and it’s fun." ••
Monica Au-Yeung is a junior at Northeast High School and a member of the band.