Extra-Curricular Groups 

Marching Band

Winter Guard
The Greater Johnstown School District Winter Guards traveled to Cicero-North Syracuse Jr. High School on March 29 for the final competition of the regular season in the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit. The Cicero-North Syracuse Northstars Winter Guards hosted over 30 color guards at the competition from across the region.

Competing in the Novice Class (three years experience or less) Johnstown’s Gold Dust elementary winter guard placed first over West Genesee Jr., Reflections Novice, and East Syracuse-Minoa Novice. This marks a third straight victory for Gold Dust with their show “Color Them Wonderful,” which is set to Edwin McCain’s acoustic version of “I’ll Be.”

Later that day, Johnstown’s Amethyst junior varsity guard placed first from a field of nine other guards in the Scholastic Regional A Class (SRA). With a score of 80.9, the 30-member Johnstown team ended their regular season undefeated. Their performance of “He Lives in You,” from the Broadway Musical “The Lion King,” brought a terrific crowd reaction Saturday night.

Rounding out the evening, Johnstown’s Amethyst Gold varsity guard placed first in the Scholastic Open class, with a score of 82.5 over the CNS Northstars’ 78.5. Their show titled “Wires and Lights in a Box” portrays the powers of television media over the independent thoughts of its viewers.

Following a fundraising exhibition on April 2 in the Warren Street Elementary School gym, all three guards traveled to the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit’s 2008 Championship Color Guard Competition on April 5 and 6 at Shenendehowa High School. Johnstown’s winter guards (Gold Dust Elementary Guard, Amethyst Junior Guard and Amethyst Gold Senior Guard) competed in their respective classes before a packed gym of supportive spectators.

On Saturday, April 5, Gold Dust placed first in the Novice class, earning the gold medal and a chance to perform in exhibition that evening as the new champion. On that same day, Amethyst placed first in the Scholastic regional A class, also earning the gold medal and an exhibition performance on April 6. Returning to Shenendehowa on Sunday, Amethyst Gold placed first in the Scholastic Open class, earning the gold medal and stretching its championship title to encompass a fourth straight year.

Currently ranked first in New York State and twenty-first in the country, the Amethyst Gold Senior Guard will be competing in the Winter Guard International (WGI) World Championships in Dayton, Ohio April 10 –12.

The Greater Johnstown School District is very proud of the efforts and achievements of its Winter Guard members!

More information can be found at www.mycgc.org or by calling the Johnstown High School band office at 762-4661 x416.

Winter Guards - Earlier in the Season
The senior winter guard, Amethyst Gold, premiered their 2008 show “Lights in a Box” at Phoenix High School on January 12 in the Mid-York Color Guard Circuit (http://www.mycgc.org/).  The 24-member group has entered the Scholastic Open (SO) division this year, a step up from the Scholastic A class they have competed in for the past several years.  The group will be facing new experiences this season, rising to the demands of a more challenging routine and a more experienced field of competitors across the country.  The senior guard performs their show to the ever-poignant words of journalist Edward R. Murrow from the 2005 motion picture Good Night and Good Luck, with dialogue from the 1976 motion picture Network set over music of Peter Gabriel. The design explores the powers of television; can this instrument teach, illuminate and inspire, or is it just a collection of wires and lights in a box? The 18 young women and six young men perform around stages holding television sets which bind the students in machine-like choreography and then release them as if they were electrons traveling across the TV screen floor mat.  Amethyst Gold will compete in Salem, Massachusetts, Trumbull, Connecticut, and South Brunswick, New Jersey as they prepare for World Championships in Dayton, Ohio.

The junior guard, Amethyst, competing in the Scholastic Regional A (SRA) class also premiered their show “He Lives in You” at Phoenix High School on January 12.  Based on music from the Broadway musical “The Lion King,” the 30-member group is dressed in contemporary costumes designed in the style of traditional African dress and perform on a beautiful set featuring a waterfall painted on to the props and floor mat by Christine VanValkenburgh.  The show features several of the members on live percussion instruments, marimbas, djembe drums and other accessories, performing along with the soundtrack.  Always a crowd favorite, this group will be appearing at many Mid-York Color Guard contests throughout the season.

In their third year of competition, the elementary winter guard, Gold Dust, is comprised of 30 students grades 4-6 representing each of the 4 elementary schools in the GJSD.  With oversized crayons on a white floor mat, the students perform to "I’ll Be" by Edwin McCain and debuted at the Artistry in Motion held at Johnstown High School on February 16. 

On January 19 the varsity and junior varsity guards traveled to Cicero-North Syracuse Junior High School, returning to Phoenix High School on January 26. These are the scores for both groups:

Junior guard                              Senior guard
1/12  First Place 60.0                 First Place 53.0
1/19  First Place 61.5                 First Place 55.7
1/26  First Place 64.6                 First Place 62.1

During the weekend of March 8, all three groups took part in a competition hosted by Laurens Winter Guard at Oneonta High School. Gold Dust cadet guard placed first in Novice against Unatego and Reflections JV. Amethyst junior guard placed first in Scholastic Regional A against Westmoreland, Sherburne-Earlville and Binghamton. Amethyst gold varsity guard placed second in Scholastic Open to Laurens High School.

The varsity guard will travel to South Brunswick, NJ to compete in the WGI Power Regional the weekend of March 14.

The next area competition for all three groups will take place on March 29 at Cicero-North Syracuse Junior High, with championships on the following weekend at Shenendehowa High School; Gold Dust and Amethyst will perform on April 5 and Amethyst Gold will perform on April 6.

More information can be found at www.johnstownmusicweb.com.

Jazz Ensemble
Under the direction of Mr. Jones, these dedicated musicians rehearse at the high school twice a week. The group prepares music from pop to swing, and rock to samba. The jazz band performed at the Winter Concert, and at the Johnstown Senior Citizen's Center.  Future performances will be held at the Prism Concert in March, the spring concert in May and a few appearances around at community events.

Date page last updated: April 9, 2008

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