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From South Linden to the Big Easy: Linden-McKinley marching band hopes for biggest trip yet
It's a nine-to-five day for the members of the Linden-McKinley STEM Academy's "Unstoppable Mighty Marching Panthers."
For three weeks of band camp, the students have been starting at 9 a.m., doing physical conditioning by taking laps on the track, then settling in for a long day of practicing their routines in the summer heat. This year, they're training with a focus.
The Linden-McKinley marching band is fundraising to go to New Orleans to march in the famous Mardis Gras parade in 2026. The trip represents the most ambitious event yet for a band that was just a dozen members a decade ago but now numbers around 70, including dancers.
For the students, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Tarlyn Arnold, 18, a senior and head drum major for the band, loves music of all kinds.
"(The band) came to my elementary school, so I was like 'Oh, this is what I want to do,'" Arnold said. "So I came here, and I started. Here I am now."
Arnold said the New Orleans trip is an opportunity to get the Unstoppable Mighty Marching Panthers' name out and to be a representative of the Linden community.
"Around here, there's not really a good representation in a lot of the stuff going on," Arnold said. "So for us, going to New Orleans, doing good things, getting trophies — I love it. It's not good around here, but we try to make it better."
To get to New Orleans, Band Director Stephen Ingram says the band is aiming to raise $100,000, and is asking for the community's support. Part of the trip, Ingram said, includes opportunities for cultural learning and touring colleges. He is hoping the "community will rally" to help them get there.
"For a lot of them, it's a dream," Ingram said. "It's a dream to see some of these schools, and to be in that environment. Let's start making these dreams a reality."
Phrell Dawson, 14, a freshman mellophone player, said he was excited for the opportunity to do new things and the chance to possibly play in a famous parade.
"It's fun to travel somewhere you've never been," Dawson said.
Raising the bar — and raising it again
While the band plans to go South next year, for Ingram, the only way forward for the band is up.
"A lot of the groups we've seen in our competitions, they've gone down to New Orleans and done the parade, and they love it," Ingram said. "Well, we're just as good if not better, so let's go out there and see."
It's not just musical opportunities for students, it's also academic ones.
In 2023, the Marching Panthers went to Memphis for the Southern Heritage Classic, the annual historically Black college football game between the Golden Lions of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the Tennessee State University Tigers. There, they took first place in every category.
Ingram said that following the 2023 trip, three of the five seniors eventually attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on band scholarships.
"There's life outside, no matter the struggles you think you might have or the narrows people might put you in, there's life there," Ingram said. "There's nothing you can't do, and there's a future for them."
Dawson said that the marching band is like a "big little family" and that the members encourage one another and "push each other to do great things."
"It changed my life," Dawson said. "When I was in seventh grade, I had nothing to do. I was playing games all day. Now I've got something to do."
Arnold said it has been good to see the "family" constantly growing and "getting the word out" since joining.
"Sometimes there's stuff going on at home, we don't know what's going on, but when you come here — it's a safe space," Arnold said. "You leave everything at the door and there's no judgment."
Cole Behrens covers K-12 education and school districts in central Ohio. Have a tip? Contact Cole at cbehrens@ or connect with him on X at @Colebehr_report
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Linden-McKinley marching band aiming for New Orleans Mardis Gras trip
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