As the season came to a close Nov. 9, the team amassed awards from competitions in Napa Valley, Del Oro, Pacific Grove and Cupertino. The team, comprised of 160 students, swept almost all of the inter- and intrastate competitions, winning showmanship sweepstakes, visual sweepstakes, grand sweepstakes and multiple first place prizes in percussion, brass, woodwinds and color guard.

With a "haunted Halloween" theme titled "The 13th Hour," the band performed a medley of music from movies such as Interview with the Vampire and Sleepy Hollow, accompanied by crisp uniforms and ghoulish makeup.

"It was a lot of fun," said flute captain Camilia Scheible of Los Gatos. "We work really hard to earn what we do, and the competition is just amazing. This year has been one of the best years ever."

Richard Alipaz, who has been the marching band director for five years and has been involved with the school's music program for 10, believes the success of the band was due in part to the song selection.

"The kids really bought into the theme this year," he said. "They were excited about it from day one. We were all very focused."

Scheible believes the theme did encourage the performers, as it was "incredibly innovative and so much fun to perform," she said. "A lot of people put in a lot of effort."

With 160 members, organizing a large-scale show can be difficult. To help keep the band on its toes and running smoothly, Alipaz has a team of nine adult staff members and a handful of selected, trained students to be field staff.

Integral to the success, however, is having a sense of community within the team. Alipaz said the group's cohesiveness begins at band camp, which was held in August, and is then maintained through parties and social activities organized by the field staff.

Alipaz also believes that the parents are of particular importance to the marching band. Not only do they provide meals at all practices and competitions, but parents are solely responsible for raising the $80,000 that is needed to run the marching band.

"The parents are very involved," Alipaz said. "They are quite instrumental to the band's success."

Scheible agrees. "It's like having one big family," she said. "If we didn't spend as much time together as we do, we definitely wouldn't be as good as we are."

Lynn Miano of Los Gatos, the mother of percussion captain Katie Miano, feels very connected to her daughter's band. "Richard is the mind behind everything. He's brilliant, but everyone is still kept involved and everyone feels fantastic," Miano said. "Everyone is so connected, they would never give it up. Our whole family does this together. We're all band dorks, and we love it."

At the height of the season, the band practices each Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and holds four "super Saturday" practice days, which run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Although the competitive season is over, students still have band class and will also be practicing for their Dec. 7 performance in the Los Gatos Christmas Parade. The marching band will also be practicing for a prestigious engagement—as one of only five schools to be chosen nationwide—to play at Carnegie Hall in April. They will perform their planned Carnegie show at the Calvary Church Dec. 13.

"This year is definitely the most enjoyable season I've ever had as a teacher," Alipaz said. "The kids really re-energized me. They did a spectacular job."