On a potentially soggy New Year’s Day in Southern California, the Indiana Hoosiers will face the Alabama Crimson Tide in the picturesque Rose Bowl stadium.
For some North Texas high schoolers, the real spectacle happens before the Rose Bowl kicks off. They’re set to perform in the Tournament of Roses Parade, bringing some southern hospitality to the Golden State.
Among the performers are the Allen High School band and Ashley Vanegas Castro, a high school sophomore from Marcus High School in Flower Mound.
The 5.5-mile parade starts at 8 a.m. PST/10 a.m. CST on Thursday. It will be broadcast on major networks such as NBC, CNN, Fox and ABC.
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The Allen Eagle Escadrille is the only high school in the Lone Star State to participate this year.
The band, which includes about 600 students, performed in the parade in 2006 and 2016. The luggage to get to the Rose Parade weighed about 33,000 pounds, according to the booster club.
“It took so much preparation and planning for us to get here. We would like to thank all of our volunteers and sponsors who donated their time, efforts, and money to make this possible,” the band said in a social media post.
Vanegas Castro will perform in the color guard, as part of the Bands of America Honor Band. It’s a national ensemble that includes about 300 performers from across the country, featuring winds, percussion and more. The honor band is a program from Music for All, a national music education nonprofit.
Mother Ashley Vanegas said she sees the time and energy her daughter invests in the color guard: about 25 hours a week.
“Tears come out of my eyes every time she performs, because I know how much work and dedication goes into that,” her mother said.
In preparation, Vanegas Castro studied tutorial videos. The family of six flew out to Southern California, and she spent a week getting ready for the parade, rehearsing together with the band, according to her mother.
The students “practice all day long,” her mother said, and Vanegas Castro has already made friends from different states.
“[Color guard] keeps them busy, it keeps them fit, and they make lifelong friends. You can really see the community,” her mother said.
Vanegas Castro’s 13-year-old sister is interested in joining the color guard when she enters the ninth grade next fall. The youngest sister is only 1, but perhaps the activity will be in her genes, as well, the mother noted.
“The 1-year-old is already used to going to the performances and knows when to clap and when to stand, all that,” her mother said.
In a statement, Richard Saucedo, who directs the honor band, said, “Congratulations to Ashley on participating in this fantastic experience.”
“To be part of this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for students, and a testimony to their dedication to music,” he said.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.