On October 25th, the Grafton High School Marching Clipper Band held steadfast to their long-standing ranking of “Superior”, granted by the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association, at the annual VBODA marching band assessment. Each year, elementary, middle, and high school bands and orchestras in Virginia gather at various high schools across the state for the chance to show a panel of judges the performances they’ve poured countless hours into over the course of the past few months in hopes of earning a Superior ranking.

For over a decade, Grafton has brought home the title of Superior, the best possible rank to be given after evaluation. Rank is determined by scores given for each aspect of the band’s performance, including drum majors, auxiliary, marching technique, musical performance, drum line, and general effect. Grafton was also recognized for the fourteenth year in a row as an Honor Band for outstanding musical and visual performance. Next year, if they retain their Superior status, they will be recognized as a fifteen-year Honor Band in the VBODA “special achievements” category. Students in band were ecstatic, and a little relieved, to have defended Grafton’s infamous reputation as one of the best bands in the state of Virginia.

Annetta Osvold, a Senior, said that “The tension was extremely high before the announcement, and I think all of us were super relieved to hear the verdict. I’m personally very proud of the freshmen who are helping us keep up a streak that’s older than them. Overall, we’ve had a phenomenal season and it’s one that I’m proud to call my last.”

Junior Ada Reed also felt confident about the band’s performance and was ecstatic that their rating at VBODA reflected the effort they put into the show.

“We’ve been working really hard to get a superior rating and it really made all of our hard work pay off!” said Reed. “It was so much fun to get a superior rating on one of our last performances of the season, it was a memorable ending!”

Overall, members of the GHS marching felt that this had been one of their more successful seasons. Megan Phan, a Junior in the alto saxophone section, reflects that the season definitely had its challenges, but turned out to be one of the best.

Phan told us, “This marching season has been my favorite by far and successful in every way. The season started off rough with missing practice from the hurricanes and being rained out several times, but we ended really strong and I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

With the marching season over, we look forward to seeing what Mr. Kirsch and the band have in store for concert season!