Welcome, new color guard member. We look forward to having you participate in one of the most colorful, exciting and yes, demanding, activities at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. As a new color guard member you have expressed a desire and commitment to work hard, practice every day, and to develop your skills and talents to the fullest extent possible. Make no mistake about it, becoming a member of the Paul Laurence Dunbar color guard requires some extra effort. But it is also extremely rewarding. The color guard is a non-musical section of the marching band that provides the additional visual aspects to the band's musical performance. The color guard provides an interpretation of the music that the marching band is playing via the synchronized spinning of flags, sabres, rifles, or through dance. The PLD Marching Band/Color Guard unit is the largest 'Team' at Paul Laurence Dunbar High school. Since 2003, every member of marching band and color guard has graduated from PLD as a state champion. The expectations for you as a new color guard member are equally high. We look forward to working with you, to help you develop and grow into responsible young adults, to celebrate the many accomplishments you will achieve with the PLD Color Guard and Winter Guard program, to provide you with experiences in guard that are educational and rewarding, and to provide memories and friends that last a lifetime. Welcome to the Paul Laurence Dunbar Color Guard!

      Junior Varsity Winter Guard is a new program beginning in the fall of 2009. This is open to any 7th or 8th grade Middle School Girls currently attending Fayette County Public Schools or Private Schools and will attend PLD when they start high school. The purpose of the Junior Varsity Winter Guard program is to provide those with an interest in color guard a way to improve their dance, rifle, sabre, or flag handling skills prior to marching tryouts in the spring. As the Junior Varsity Winter Guard program is an instructional and developmental program, there are no tryouts - everyone, regardless of skill level can participate. Practices are usually one night per week at local middle schools. For more information on becoming a member of the PLD Color Guard, check out our Color Guard Informational Flyer and get started today!

      Your journey with the PLD color guard will most likely begin with Color Guard tryouts in the spring of each year. That's right, tryouts! Just like cheerleaders must be able to do a backflip, guard members must be able to dance, spin rifles or sabres, and must possess the necessary flag handling and marching skills needed to be in color guard. Those who do not make the active marching team will become alternates - practicing with the color guard unit in order to improve your skills. You should not be discouraged if you do not make the marching team your first attempt - some do not. In fact, there are several members of the current color guard unit who were alternates their freshman year. Alternates are an equally important member of the PLD color guard unit as they are the Director's first choice as replacements should a member of the marching team drop out due to illness or injury.

      All color guard members are required to participate in a one-week Color Guard Camp that occurs the latter part of June each year. This camp focuses on teaching dance and equipment basics in preparation for band camp and the upcoming marching season. Full Band Camp runs two weeks beginning around the middle of July and followed by post camp rehearsals. Band Camp is held at PLD High School. You must attend camp to insure a spot in the competition show. For new members band camp can be confusing and exhausting. The Band Camp Survival Guide is an informational document developed by former students and parents to help you succeed while at camp.

      The Color Guard and Band perform at varsity football home games during the season when marching competitions do not conflict. The Band plays the National Anthem at the start of the game, plays pep tunes during the game, and performs the competition show at half-time. The Band also performs at 4 to 6 band competitions which the directors select. These additional competitions can be at local, state, regional, and national levels. Bands compete against other bands of their size-class (based on high school enrollment) and also vie for best overall honors, Best Visual, Visual effect, and Overall effect. Judges at each competition evaluate the performances according to established criteria.

       Since the PLD Marching Band is an extracurricular activity, the rehearsal schedule falls almost entirely outside of the typical school day. Color Guard rehearsals follow the same general schedule as the Marching band rehearslas with 2 exceptions: Color Guard Camp and Extra Rehearsals.

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       After marching band season, many of the color guard members participate in Winter Guard. Winter guard is different from color guard in that Winter Guard performs on a gymnasium floor with a routine choreographed to recorded music. The PLD Winter Guard competes in the TriStateCircuit against other groups from Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. The PLD Winter Guard team is the defending TriStatecircuit Champion for 2010. Check out their 2009 performance on YouTube.