The PHS Marching Band and Color Guard placed third, making the semi-finals, in the Tournament of Bands Chapter 10.

The Chapter 10 Tournament of Bands serves northern and central New Jersey as well as southeastern New York including Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Northern Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex & Union Counties. New York counties include Bronx, Kings, Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Westchester. Therefore, PHS ranking third is a huge accomplishment in this large company.

Under the direction of Mr. Rusca, the PHS band has soared to new heights of success. In fact, making it to the finals PHS became the First Chapter 10 Wildwood ACC Indoor Champion in years.
This was an extremely competitive group of schools. PHS scored a 92.98 for third place, and the difference in the finals between first place and third place was only .77 points. If the band could have mustered another point, they would be in first place.

PHS Percussion Ensemble placed fourth in the finals, with a score of 90.9, another great achievement. Next year’s chapter championship is anticipated to be held at West Essex H.S. on  April 26, 2015.

The spirit of the band this year is that they want to place even higher next year. They will be working throughout the summer and into next fall to prepare for this and other competitions.

By Sharief Masri