Reagan marching band builds on storied tradition with new director Connor Vaughn at the helm<\/a><\/p>\nA familiar face takes over<\/p>\n
In May,\u00a0Plazek learned that her predecessor was leaving for another position. After a series of conversations and interviews, she was selected to lead a program whose culture she had helped shape.<\/p>\n
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She wasn\u2019t looking to create a new identity. She wanted to preserve Churchill\u2019s emphasis on relationships, responsibility and leaving the program better than students found it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not just making strong musicians,\u201d\u00a0Plazek said. \u201cOur mission is to create better human beings through music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Churchill\u2019s band program has about 172 students, with enrollment spread relatively evenly across grade levels.\u00a0Plazek relies on student leaders to help maintain the program\u2019s culture and guide younger musicians.<\/p>\n
Two of those leaders are drum majors\u00a0Peyton Parker, a junior, and Elijah Herrera, a senior.<\/p>\n
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Parker is in her second year as a drum major, having earned the position as a sophomore. She helps conduct the band and maintain tempo, but said the role involves more than performing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a lot of responsibility, but I\u2019ve definitely grown a lot in this position,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n
Herrera described this year\u2019s band in one word: determined. He said the group has a large freshman class, and its younger members quickly embraced their roles and the expectations that came with them.<\/p>\n
Months behind 15 minutes<\/p>\n
What spectators see on the field is only a fraction of the work behind the performance.<\/p>\n
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Churchill\u2019s band spent four weeks in summer band, with students working from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. During the school year, they rehearse after school while balancing classes, football games and performances.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to see 10 minutes of 10,000 hours of work over the course of the summer and over the course of the year,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n
Work on the band\u2019s production begins even earlier. Churchill\u2019s show, \u201cButterfly in the Sky,\u201d draws inspiration from \u201cReading Rainbow\u201d and celebrates imagination, curiosity and the childlike wonder of stories coming alive.<\/p>\n
Planning began after last season. The music, percussion, drill and choreography were developed before being brought together as one production.<\/p>\n
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Large bookshelves, butterflies and an oversized book help transform the field. The book\u2019s pages turn throughout the show, creating the effect of Churchill moving from one story to another.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into it,\u201d\u00a0Plazek said.<\/p>\n
Plazek works with associate directors Spencer Katz and Randy Sifuentes, who also teaches percussion, and color guard director Ray Ramirez. Parents also play a significant role, including by constructing and moving the show\u2019s props.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes an incredible amount of discipline and attention to detail, not just from the staff, but also from the kids,\u201d\u00a0Plazek said.<\/p>\n
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Under the Tuesday night lights<\/p>\n
By Tuesday evening, weeks of rehearsal had given way to anticipation.<\/p>\n
Bands from across\u00a0NEISD filled the Heroes Stadium parking lot, unloading instruments, equipment and props. Students warmed up outside as families, friends and marching band supporters filled the stands.<\/p>\n
For Parker, performing at the Fall Marching Festival had a different energy from a typical Friday night football game.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis is all bands,\u201d Parker said. \u201cEveryone here understands the work that we\u2019ve put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Churchill\u2019s performance time approached, students gathered near the stadium scoreboard, forming groups and organizing equipment.<\/p>\n
Around 8\u00a0p.m., Churchill took the field. Students ran out carrying pieces of the \u201cButterfly in the Sky\u201d production as parents and other students helped move larger props and instruments into position.<\/p>\n
The band wore black uniforms with sweeping silver-gray stripes across the chest, glittery red sleeves and shimmering gray shoulder cuffs. Tall hats called shakos were topped with red, white and silver plumes.<\/p>\n
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The Winston Churchill High School marching band performs at the Fall Festival at Heroes Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Clint Datchuk \/ For The Express-News<\/p>\n
Clint Datchuk![\"The]()
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The Winston Churchill High School marching band performs at the Fall Festival at Heroes Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Clint Datchuk \/ For The Express-News<\/p>\n
Clint Datchuk<\/p>\n
Family members raised their phones.<\/p>\n
READ ALSO: \u2018Win the rep\u2019: How Johnson High School\u2019s 254-member marching band is building toward new season<\/a><\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Parker and\u00a0Herrera climbed onto their drum major podiums and raised their arms.<\/p>\n
On the track,\u00a0Plazek and her staff watched.<\/p>\n
After months of preparation, Churchill had 15 minutes to enter, perform and clear the field. Every transition the band had rehearsed the night before now mattered.<\/p>\n
Woodwinds and brass moved through formations. Percussion drove the music forward. The color guard swept across the field as oversized books, bookshelves and butterflies helped bring Churchill\u2019s story to life.<\/p>\n
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The night before,\u00a0Plazek had stopped students to correct their tempo, fading energy and even the direction of their eyes.<\/p>\n
When the performance ended, cheers and applause rose from the stands.<\/p>\n
Herrera had one word for how he felt afterward.<\/p>\n
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The Winston Churchill High School marching band performs at the Fall Festival at Heroes Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Clint Datchuk \/ For The Express-News<\/p>\n
Clint Datchuk![\"The]()
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The Winston Churchill High School marching band performs at the Fall Festival at Heroes Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Clint Datchuk \/ For The Express-News<\/p>\n
Clint Datchuk<\/p>\n
Herrera described marching band as an art form, with music, movement and visual elements coming together in a single production.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s a point where it gets to be so much work that it feels like the satisfaction\u2019s never\u00a0gonna come,\u201d Herrera said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very delayed gratification.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival brought that payoff Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we get to go out to shows and get scored and feel the roar of an audience clapping,\u201d\u00a0Herrera said, \u201cit\u2019s just an amazing feeling. That can\u2019t be beat.\u201d<\/p>\n
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