As the Class of 2026 leaves Westford Academy, their absence has impacted not only their family and friends, but the clubs and activities they were a part of as well. The WA band is one of these groups that seems to have been hit harder by the senior’s departure.

According to band director Adam Shekleton, the band consists of 74 people, around 17 of which are seniors. Now as the seniors have left, the band has gone through not only a loss in their numbers, but has also suffered through the loss of their friends and leaders.

The seniors have had a large impact on the band, not only improving the quality of how the band sounds, due to their abundant amount of experience, but also with the leadership they provided, giving the rest of the band somebody to look up to.

According to Shekleton, every year when the seniors depart there is always the question of who that leadership position will go to, and every year there has always been at least one person who steps up.

“People always step up, and that is the nice thing with people who care about the band and care about the environment it provides,” Shekleton said.

As well as leading by example, seniors have the responsibility of creating a fun, welcoming environment that members can walk into. By maintaining a positive culture, the band has had a successful year.

With the absence of the seniors, there are some goals that the rest of the band is aiming to accomplish. According to Shekleton, they are hoping to make sure nobody’s sound is hidden when playing and have everybody equally play their part. Due to the lack of experienced players, the band will need to practice more, as well as generally improve how they sound without the seniors covering up for any mistakes that they may make.

“We plan to focus on improving our own skills now that we don’t have the seniors to rely on and have very little juniors,” said sophomore Donovan Cook.

Since approximately 23% of the band is graduating, it is important that they get more members to join. This way, when the band plays, the large quantity of people allows for a more diverse selection of instruments, resulting in a more complex sound.

According to Cook, in order to make up for the lack of participants in the band, there are many seniors doing capstones in the middle schools trying to recruit more members.

Furthermore, according to Shekleton, the Marching Band in particular is trying to recruit a lot of eighth graders. By allowing middle schoolers to help play in events such as The Apple Blossom Parade, it provides rising high schoolers a feeling of what being in the band could be like.

According to Shekleton, the band is hoping that next year the incoming freshmen class will be large. Due to this, they anticipate balance in their instrumentation.

According to Cook, even though it is sad that the seniors have left, it is also hopeful. Their departure will allow for new members to be able to step up and take on new leadership positions. The band is hoping to work on their skills as well as providing a caring environment for the new freshmen.

“We will need to play out more and not hide our sound. And of course, we will miss our senior friends, ” said Cook.