Calallen Marching Band beats the heat with hydration

Jul 21, 2023

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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With temperatures still sitting in the triple digits, the Calallen High School Band experienced some intense heat during their practice sessions.

Even though one of the sessions was in the morning, the extreme temperatures were still hot enough for one of our crew's phones to overheat and shutdown.

Calallen Independent School District Band Director Jeff Valperts said that band members have to take water breaks every 15 to 20 minutes.

"We require each of them to have a half-gallon water jug with them," he said.

Senior drum major Madelyn Hoelscher said that band members have to stay properly hydrated in order to effectively practice in the heat.

"Reset 20-minute timers, so every 20 minutes we get a five-minute water break, and the key to that, yeah, it's a lot of water. We get these half-gallon jugs, and we usually like them to drink about a gallon water in these practices," she said.

Along with the water, students were also required to wear a hat to try and stay cool. Once they get that break, the kids in rhythm head for a shade structure or a tree.

"We try to keep the students motivated throughout that heat, like we bring little spray bottles fans that way we can spray them throughout, and we try to fan them. We try to keep them motivated while we're learning drills," said senior drum major Skylar Vela.

Valperts said the practice schedule is designed to keep the musicians from being overcome by the heat and still prepared to be in step for another football season.

"All of our outdoor rehearsals happen in the early morning when it's still cool, so we go 8-11 a.m. out here, and then in the afternoon, we go indoors in the heat of the day," he said.

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