Band, Choir, and Color Guard

Winter Guard

For two decades the Franklin Winter Guard has been improving and encouraging students lives through the sport of guard. The Franklin Winter Guard comprises of three teams; Elementary, Jr. High, and High School. We compete throughout Southwest Ohio, Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. This Sport of the Arts combines dance, theater, drama, flags, rifles, and sabres all choreographed to music to create a one of a kind show.  We help provide a creative outlet for students so they can grow and mature into amazing people!  For more information please contact us at franklinwinterguard@gmail.com

District Guards hold local, state, national rankings

They take the field in the summer at band camp, kicking off a season that ends the following spring. At home, they perform at parades and football games. During competition season, their audience is mostly strangers as they travel for local and regional competitions. In April, they perform at the World Championships in Dayton. Yet, despite being nationally ranked, Franklin’s Color Guard and Winter Guard, some of the hardest working student groups in the district, mostly fly under the radar.

Depending on your age, you may remember drill teams that performed routines during football halftimes in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The current color guard/winter guard groups have grown and morphed into this year-round commitment, and one that is very successful: Last season, competing as a marching band in the Mid-States Circuit, the Franklin color guard was the top auxiliary in AA Class at every competition including championships which had over 20 bands. At several competitions, they were the top scoring guard of all the band classes.

Missy Townsend has grown the program, which she started in the fall of 1997. She said, “The then-flag corps was very small and not achieving at a high level. I started building the program, and a year later, I started the winter guard [which] took the place of the drill team that was with the band in the 80’s when I was in school.”

Students from kindergarten through high school can be members of guard, and the show’s complexity increases with age. The youngest students (the Wildkittens in grades K through 6) don’t have to try out; their focus is learning basic skills. Junior high and high school students do audition. Townsend says, “Dance is a vital part of guard. We use basic techniques [at the] elementary [level] and the skill level increases with each program. Dance skills or gymnastic skills are a plus for sure.” She added: “We train body  movement. These include dance skills and marching skills. We also train equipment skills, which begin for everyone on flag. Once they have shown the capability to move on, they move to rifle and then add saber to the list.” The color guard includes dance, flag, rifle, saber, and baton. Other props may be included to help enhance the theme of the performance.

Winter guard training begins in November for competition season. The high school group trains four days/week with some practices running six hours. Most practices are three hours. The elementary and junior high groups train two to three days per week, with practices running 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours respectively.

Competition season runs late January  through mid-April. All three units compete in the Mid East Performance Association (MEPA), a local circuit encompassing Ohio and sometimes Northern Kentucky. Most competitions are in the Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus areas. The high school also competes in Winter Guard International (WGI), a national and world organization, with competitions held both across the country in regional events and abroad. Dayton hosts the WGI World Championships.

These groups expect to be successful and last competition season was no exception. In January, they debuted competition shows at Miamisburg High School; the elementary team took 2nd place and the junior high and high school teams both took first place. In February, all three groups took first place at the Fairfield competition. In March, the winter guard placed third of 29 at the WGI Sport of the Arts Regionals in Knoxville. In early April, the FHS high school winter guard was  crowned Scholastic A MEPA State Champions.

At WGI Worlds in mid-April, FHS guard competed against 130 high school guards from across the country. 64 guards moved into semi-finals, and 20 into finals. In 2022 and 2023, Franklin made the semi-finals and ended in the 30’s. This year, they finished in 30th place, 1.8 away from finals.

Missy’s staff helps with decisions about shows for all three groups. They include assistant director Kristina Holweger and staff members John Wheeler, Cliff Gray-Huff, Micah Stewart, Heida Drake, Haley Landis, Emma Ambro, and Miesha Anderson. The high school drill designer for winter season is Wyatt Hines.

For more info, contact Missy Townsend at twirlbc88@gmail.com and winter guard at franklinwinterguard@gmail.com.