JACKSON – The merging of the two high schools is causing a lot of changes, but one thing that is still the same is the district’s strong music program, and this was shown as the new school’s band has racked up some impressive victories during recent competitions.
Recently, the Manchester Township Hawk Band opened their nest to a band competition at Manchester High School that saw the new Jackson High School Band come in strong.
Toms River High School North, Central Regional and Jackson High School were among those who competed in the contest and Jackson took home a nice award.
This marks the first year for Jackson High School to participate since the school district’s two high schools, Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty consolidated down to one high school this year due to budgetary reasons.
Their band director Scott Katona however is very familiar with the program and told The Manchester Times, “At Manchester we came in first but we did not get the highest overall score but we did come in first in our group.”
Katona added, “we did win this past weekend at Hightstown and had the highest score of the night also receiving awards for Best Percussion, Best Color Guard and Best Music.”
While the new school has the same mascot, the Jaguars. “The band is now called The Jackson Township High School Marching Band. This is a way to make all the students involved feel equal. Jackson Liberty High School Band was called The Liberty Lion Band and Jackson Memorial High School band was called The Jackson Jaguar Band but combining the two together created a new name,” Katona added.
Katona explained that “combining the two programs comes with struggles. There were two different ways of doing things for years. Two different styles and approaches to everything, but in the end, we all do something the same, and that’s win.”
“We are now one town with one sound and we are already off to a great start for the season, winning our first two competitions and having the highest score of the night already at our second competition,” the band director remarked.
Katona noted that the band has its own home-based competition coming up on October 11, “which is the largest band competition in Ocean County, featuring 21 bands.”
“I did work at Memorial High School before Liberty was built, then I was a part of the split when they opened Liberty and dealt with the hardships of opening that school and creating new traditions and such. Here I am again,” he added.
While the host band is not allowed to compete, the Marching Hawks considered the event a high honor. Their band director, Andrew Fodor said the event was called “Music Under the Stars” and was “a part of the Tournament of Bands marching band competition.”
This was week two out of a nine-week competition schedule. “We had bands from all over Ocean County performing. The MTHS Marching Band competes every weekend at schools all over New Jersey. We are a Group One band, meaning that we compete against other bands that have up to 30 musicians. We have 17 musicians and seven guard members,” Fodor added.
Fodor said, “this year, we are a smaller band, and one third of our band members are marching for the first time, making us a young band. We performed recently at Raritan High School and came in second place against Barnegat High School.”
“Last season, we finished in first place at three shows, second place at three shows, second place out of five in our region, seventh out of 14 in the state, and tenth out of 20 bands on the East Coast. That was one of the best seasons we’ve had since 2019,” he added.
“We host this competition every year, and Music Under the Stars is the Marching Band’s largest fundraiser. We appreciate the help from all band parents (present and past), MTSD staff members, and students for helping us make it a memorable evening for those in attendance,” Fodor added.
Band mom Kim Libourel is the secretary of the Band Parents Board and her husband is the president. She was busy that evening with activities associated with the event. Her daughter Megan a senior, is part of the band’s percussion section.
“This is a win for us because it is an honor to host it. This my fifth year doing it. My daughter joined when she was in 8th grade which is when I became a band parent. The Band Parent Board is who puts this event on,” she added.
