Behind every good group, there is an even better leader. In marching band, the leader is called the drum major. They  lead rehearsals, conduct the band at events and are the main communicators between the band staff and the band students.

At ELHS, one of the two co-drum majors is senior Rose Zhou. Over her tenure in marching band, she has had three different directors: Angelica Fadrowski, Chris Denke and current director Justin Daly.

“I think the biggest struggle was adapting. Every band director brings something different to the program. Different teaching styles, different ideas. It may be hard for many to adjust after a long time of doing things a certain way,” said Zhou.

Zhou added that the different directors affected the band as a whole.

“There’s definitely been times where many people expressed their opinions for a new director or how rehearsal went, and it takes some people longer to adapt to the changes that the director might make,” Zhou said.

According to the other co-drum major Aiden Rodgers, Zhou is known for being supportive towards the members of the band, approachable, and a good teacher.

“Rose is a really supportive leader. No matter where a member lands on the totem pole within the organization, Rose makes a point to really reach out and be approachable,” Rodgers said.

Through Zhou’s supportive leadership and approachability, she helped lead the band to fourth place in states this season.

“Despite us having to adapt to another new director this season, the band members, old or new, were able to persevere through obstacles that they might not have been used to,” Zhou said. “It definitely helped that our new director, Mr. Daly, was a caring and engaging teacher that got us to that achievement of success.”

Another success for the band this year was new uniforms. These uniforms were bought with funds granted by the EL BOE.

“It does feel nice to have an upgrade after about 45 years,” Zhou said. “It still feels very different to be wearing a different uniform, like everything has officially changed.”

Zhou plan to attend Boston University (BU) after high school to study astronomy, physics and marching band.

“They have a great marching band program and I’m very excited for the new opportunities BU has to offer,” Zhou said.