PCHS Bulletin – Lexi Brielmann
Published Date – December 15, 2025
After months of hard work, the Pride of Parrish marching band wrapped up their season at the Florida Marching Band Championships (FMBC) state competition on November 8 in Miami, Florida.
Their show, entitled “Echoes of Light,” was all about outer space, and it really sparkled on the field at football games and competitions. The show was about how everything a person says or does will have a lasting effect forever, like a ripple effect.
The show truly had a strong message connected with students. Drum Major Peyton Stambaugh (Sr.) said that “every person is important and makes a difference to the world. Pride of Parrish is the light of my world.”
The season kicked off in July with a two-week band camp where the marchers started to learn the show in preparation for the first football game where they would perform at halftime.
This season brought some new exciting challenges as the band grew significantly since the previous year, meaning there were many new marchers to teach. Stambaugh said “our leadership team is so incredible we caught up the younger kids so fast. Everyone was excited to learn, and working with the band always made my day.”
The band performed at a few competitions throughout the season before heading to state championships. A notable competition was FMBC Wiregrass Ranch on October 18 where they scored first place in a new class (Class 3A) with a score of 76.7. This was a huge win for the marching band and proved that their hard work was paying off.
Stambaugh said that competition “made me realize we weren’t the 'baby band' we used to be. Feeling how such a large group of people could come together to create such a beautiful show was amazing.”
Then the band took to the state championship which consisted of a preliminary round where the top five bands advanced to finals. The Pride of Parrish was one of the five to get a spot, which was incredible considering it was their first year in a new class.
Finals took place at Florida International University, and the band ended their season taking fifth place in Class 3A with a score of 79.4, an impressive result for a young band.
“I know we deserved a spot in that class we just had to prove it. And we did.” Stambaugh said.
The band now looks forward to a new, exciting season of continued growth and success.