All the way from Port St. Lucie and Pasco County, Santaluces welcomes the newest Marching Chief, Ms. Crocco. Ms. Crocco is the new band director for the music program here at Santaluces. At the age of 11 or 12, she realized that she had a passion for band and now, being a director for over 25 years, she cannot wait to see what this year brings.

“As I take the new position here at Santaluces there are a lot of things that are very different,” said Crocco. “This year, the Marching Chiefs are marching between 30 and 40 students, compared to previous years which had about 70 or more.”

Though the band may be shorter in numbers, the Marching Chiefs plan on putting on a fabulous show.

“It’s called ‘Dark Nights’ featuring music from the Dark Night, Physco, and Night on Bald Mountain,” said Ms. Crocco. “So it’s kind of dark, but it’s a very fun show.”

Despite having numbers drastically drop since last year, the Marching Chiefs are having a great time and are hoping to have some new members join. Though still grieving over the former band director, Mr. Camacho, who left the Marching Chiefs, almost all students have become extremely fond of Ms. Crocco.

“This year we sound a whole lot better than we did in the last three years that I have been a part of this program,” said senior Marching Chief Taylor Laudenslager. “I believe she can get us to where we need to be as musicians.”

With the love and passion Ms. Crocco has for her students, she has already taught them what it  means to be a part of something as special as the band program.

“I have personally became a better musician and I know I have a lot of work that still needs to be done,” said Laudenslager. “Ms. Crocco is teaching us that band is a student leadership program, it’s ran by students for students. She has taught us how to be independent.”

With being completely different than last year, Laudenslager also states, “I wish this season could still be the way it was last the previous year with States [competing] and all, but I am glad to be a part of this rebuilding program.”

As the Chiefs take on a few challenges from having a different program than previous years, they said they could not be more thankful to have Ms. Crocco there to help support and help them become outstanding musicians.