Thanks to the Mukwonago Education Foundation, Mukwonago High School (MHS) is able to provide students with another chance to improve their musical talent beyond the marching band season during the first two months of school.
“One of the reasons why we are running this group is because it provides additional learning opportunities to students,” Ms. Angoli, the band teacher at MHS, said.
Blue2 Percussion is a Winterguard International-style indoor percussion ensemble that combines the visual art aspect of dance and stage drama with the precision, athleticism, and energy of marching band.
The program began in the fall of 2014 after the MEF donated one thousand dollars to Angoli. She used the money to pay for music to be written for the JV group, one of the two groups in Blue2. A portion of the grant also bought paint tarp to use for the stage background in order to set the scene and draw attention into Blue2 performances.
Since its start, Blue2 took advantage of the support from the MAED and growing student interest to create two separate sections, a JV and a varsity group, only a year after the program was created; Angoli added a color guard program just last year, too. Blue2 has recently opened itself up to Park View Middle School and sixth graders in elementary schools within the Mukwonago Area School District.
Angoli believes that Blue2 has already taken care of the major changes, but she still wants to improve the program.
“We want to continue to grow the color guard and find more financial support,” Angoli said. “One of the goals would be to get into the community more and compete. Right now we just do showcase performances.”
Next year, Blue2 will be performing after three MHS home basketball games on January 6th and 20th, as well as February 23rd. These performances are open to the public, and give the community a chance to witness how the MAED has helped Blue2 blossom into a successful extracurricular to anyone who loves music, marching band, or both.