East marching band has taken things indoors with the Winter Winds Ensemble. Currently, the Winter Winds program at East is one of the top in the world.

“We moved up a class this year we’re in Scholastic Golden. WGI {Winter Guard International] is a world championship, so currently the group is fourth in the world in Scholastic A and we will be competing at Open so we will see how that goes, we got about another couple weeks to enjoy that title if you will, and then we’ll see what scholastic open does for us,” Wright said.

These group of students use the Winter Winds program as an opportunity to continue to strengthen their skills for the marching season.

“It’s all winds; it’s another avenue to keep them moving with marching band as far as moving their feet, moving their body,” Wright said, “It really helps the marching band aspect of it when we talk about body movement. We will do different body things when we’re moving or maybe there’s a little dance”

Winter Winds is open to all band students to participate in and has been a great opportunity for many students who are involved, according to freshman Nadija Logans.

“One of my favorite things about Winter Winds is that since there are only a few people, it’s very close knit, almost like a family and we also get to have fun during our show,” Logans said. “At our competition on Saturday, we got first in our class so that’s awesome and we’ve put together a whole show already which is crazy because there’s a lot of stuff to it.”

Junior Noah Feemster participates in the ensemble by playing the trumpet. According to Feemster, he has learned a few major factors that add to the prosperity of the organization.

“I think the key components of this group are definitely respect, I think teamwork is big, we’re all one big team you can say we’re also a big family so, ” Feemster said. “Winter Winds has helped me improve, it keeps me playing my instrument at a more advanced level because concert season can be a little different sometimes so doing winter winds has helped me stay up to my highest potential. If they really feel like they’re into what they’re doing they’ll definitely fit in because they’ll be around people who also like to do what they’re doing and so it will work out.”