NL High School Marching Band wins Regional Championship for third straight year

The Northern Lehigh High School Marching Band is a bunch of three-timers.

As in, winners of the Regional Championship for Tournament of Bands for the third straight year.

The band won the Tournament of Bands Region 2 Championship held recently at North Schuylkill High School.

Northern Lehigh finished with a score of 89.05, and also won the award for Best Color Guard, according to David Carroll, band director.

The band’s feat is something that has never happened before in school history, Carroll said.

“In fact, it has never happened in my career,” Carroll said. “We have had a number of back-to-back championships, but never three in a row.”

Other bands that competed at the regional championship were Pocono Mountain East (88.3); Lake Lehman (87.7); Wilson Area (84.19); North Schuylkill (83.86); Tamaqua (Gold Rating); Pottsville Area (Silver Rating); Mahanoy Area (Silver Rating); and Schuylkill Haven (Silver Rating).

Carroll noted this marks the seventh time in school history that Northern Lehigh has won the championship.

He said Northern Lehigh went on the following week to Hershey Park Stadium to compete in the Tournament of Bands Atlantic Coast Championships, where it finished in fourth place in the Group 1 Open with a score of 93.05.

Carroll said that marked the fifth year in a row that Northern Lehigh has finished in the top 5 at the Atlantic Coast Championships, as it has finished in the top 5 seven times, and in the top 10 nine times in the past decade.

“The Marching Band Program at Northern Lehigh is an applied arts educational program, and a dynamic learning environment,” Carroll said. “We approach our “outdoor program” like any other academic experience. It’s kind of like music and movement combined as a dramatic production, sports team, and community activity.”

Carroll added, “Our primary program goal is to teach our students through the creation, development, and performance of great art.

The real measure for us is in the quality of the art we produce. Competition is the yard stick we use to test ourselves. I am very proud of what my students are able to achieve.”

For more information on Tournament of Bands, visit njatob.org and tob-info.net.