There’s a moment every music educator lives for, the one where a student looks up from their instrument, realizes what they just played, and can’t hide the smile. At Centralia School District’s first-ever Premiere Marching Band parade performance, that moment happened hundreds of times over and the entire community got to witness it.
This past season, students from six Centralia elementary schools came together for something the district had never done before: a full marching band experience for after school kids in grades K–5. Twelve weeks later, they took to the streets and marched through the community in a live parade performance and nothing was quite the same after.
A District with a Vision
The story starts with Dr. Dominic Nguyen, Director of Innovation and Expanded Learning at Centralia School District. As the district’s ELOP leader, Dr. Nguyen had a clear goal: to give after school students a meaningful and memorable musical performance experience. Centralia School District already hosts two marching band events each year, and Dr. Nguyen wanted to find a way for after school students to be included not just as spectators, but as performers. That vision helped create an opportunity for students to learn, rehearse, and take part in a real districtwide performance experience.
The district already had a drumline class in place, and they wanted an additional class that would give their after school students a full marching band experience. When they came to us, we knew immediately that the Premiere Marching Band was the right fit. It was designed exactly for this kind of moment, accessible instruments, structured curriculum, and a performance-ready outcome in a condensed timeline.
We pulled our team together, trained them, and got them into the schools. The window was twelve weeks. We rose to the challenge.
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Six Schools. One Band.
What made this parade especially powerful was the community it built. Students didn’t just represent their own school, they became part of something larger.
The six schools that came together for Marching at Centralia:
| School | Instructor(s) |
|---|---|
| Dysinger Elementary | Gilberto Ibarra |
| Buena Terra Elementary | Jacob Evans |
| San Marino Elementary | Jacob Evans |
| Miller Elementary | Jacob Justus & William Holland |
| Raymond Temple Elementary | Jacob Justus & William Holland |
| Los Coyotes Elementary | Talitha Blackwell & Caleb Ploehn |
Each instructor brought their own energy and dedication to their school’s students and when all six groups came together, marching side by side through the community, the result was a unified, confident, and genuinely impressive performance.
The Music & The Instruments
The band performed “Seven Nation Army” an instantly recognizable, crowd-energizing song that gave students something exciting to work toward from day one.
For instruments, we chose NUVO and P Instruments for winds, alongside Toca Percussion for the percussion section. These weren’t just practical choices, they were intentional ones. NUVO and P instruments are accessible, lightweight, and built in a way that sets young students up for success rather than frustration. For many of the K–5 students, it was their first time ever holding a wind instrument, which made thoughtful instrument selection incredibly important.
What Students Learned Along the Way
Over 12 weeks, students didn’t just learn a song. They learned what it means to be part of an ensemble:
- Fundamentals of marching: posture, footwork, and moving together as a unit through a live parade route
- Musical basics: rhythm, timing, listening to those around them
- Discipline and consistency: showing up every week, practicing with focus
- Teamwork: trusting bandmates from their own school and from schools they’d never visited before
For many of these K–5 students, this was their first real performance experience. The process of building toward something and then delivering it in front of a live community audience, is a lesson that goes far beyond music.
The Moment That Mattered Most
Ask anyone who lined the parade route, “what stood out?”, and you’ll hear the same thing: watching the kids’ faces.
For parents, it was a chance to see their child, their kindergartner, their third grader, their fifth grader, marching confidently down the street, instrument in hand, performing in front of the whole community. For the students, it was the sense of accomplishment that comes from doing something difficult and doing it well.
These were kids from six different schools who, just twelve weeks earlier, had never played together. By parade day, they were a band and the community showed up to cheer them on.
What Families and the Community Said
The response from families, staff, and the broader community was clear: they want to see this again.
The district was so impressed with what the students and instructors accomplished that they plan to bring the Premiere Marching Band program back next year. That kind of enthusiasm doesn’t happen by accident; it happens when a district has a bold vision, a team of dedicated instructors that show up every week, and students rise to meet the moment in front of their own community.
This Is What Premiere Marching Band Is For
Centralia came to us with a need: give after school kids a marching band experience they’d be proud of. We came back with a plan, a team, and the right instruments for the job.
Across six schools and twelve weeks, students who had never marched before grew into a unified ensemble ending in a live community parade. That transformation is exactly why we built Premiere Marching Band.
We can’t wait to see what Centralia does next year.
Interested in bringing Premiere Marching Band to your district? Contact us to learn how we can build a program around your community’s needs.