Macy\u2019s Great American Marching Band<\/a>, joining an elite ensemble of the nation\u2019s top young performers.<\/p>\nFrom HTX To NYC<\/p>\n
For Bockhahn, the journey began with what she thought would be an easy P.E. credit. <\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly auditioned for it because I thought it would be an easier P.E. credit. It definitely wasn\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cBut after my first season of doing it, I realized that it was something fun that I\u2019d like to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, in her fourth year with the color guard, Bockhahn is one of just 40 color guard members selected nationwide. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a crazy coincidence almost that I was one of the few people that they selected for it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jehlik\u2019s path to the parade started with a love of music that began in childhood. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed listening to music in the car and I could always pick out the beat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His choice of the trombone was driven by its unique qualities. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very unique instrument because of the slide, and it\u2019s very fun to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
A competitive selection<\/p>\n
Both students learned about the opportunity through connections to last year\u2019s parade. <\/p>\n
Jehlik\u2019s neighbor, a former color guard member, shared information about the auditions, while Bockhahn was inspired by two friends who performed in last year\u2019s parade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like 50-50,\u201d Jehlik said about his chances after submitting his video audition. \u201cIt\u2019s the whole nation. It could be anyone, but I was really happy when I got the text back that I made it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jehlik, who will join approximately 100 other musicians in the band, will help perform several numbers during the parade, including \u201cThis Is Me\u201d from The Greatest Showman. <\/p>\n
\u201cI always just want to keep improving myself and play harder music each year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Preparing for the Big Apple<\/p>\n
Both students fly to New York on Saturday morning, facing a packed schedule of rehearsals and sightseeing. <\/p>\n
For Bockhahn, who has never been to New York City proper, the reality hasn\u2019t fully set in. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019ll feel real until I look out of the plane window and see the whole city,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jehlik, who has visited New York before but only in summer, is excited for the winter cold. He\u2019s never played in winter temperatures before. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to see how cold it is during winter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The parade appearance could be just the beginning for both students. Jehlik plans to continue playing in college and possibly pursue competitive marching outside of college. <\/p>\n
Bockhahn, who plans to study crime scene investigation in college at either West Texas A&M or UNT, hopes to continue with color guard for a few more years. <\/p>\n
She credits her success to her coaching staff, particularly Kelsey Hernandez. <\/p>\n
\u201cWithout her help and her creating this good of a program, I wouldn\u2019t have had this great opportunity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Jehlik, representing Houston on a national stage carries special meaning. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like such an honor, because I know kids now, they\u2019re looking up to me, because I represent them and I want to represent them well. It\u2019s really such an honor and I hope that me doing this makes you realize that you can do it too. If you work for it, you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CYPRESS, Texas \u2013 As millions of Americans gather around their televisions this Thanksgiving, watching the iconic Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[10829,20143,2624,26899,405,56,58,57,251,31551,31552,278,7714,15478],"class_list":["post-58536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-band","tag-cy-fair-isd","tag-cypress","tag-cypress-fairbanks-isd","tag-harris-county","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-local-news","tag-macys","tag-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade","tag-music","tag-new-york-city","tag-parade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}