South Kitsap High School band has a lot of fund-raising to do if it wants to march in Pasadena next New Years Day.

There’s a dramatic pause before Gary Grams calls his class to attention.

He begins a dissertation on championship teams’ mentality.

Accountability. Leadership. Passion. Toughness.

The expectations not only apply to the athletic teams for which South Kitsap High School’s band performs, but the music program itself.

It’s a comparison that seems apt on many levels. After all, the Wolves’ marching band has been invited to perform at the Jan. 1, 2010, Tournament of Roses Parade before the annual Rose Bowl game.

Sophomore Emily Boyd, who plays the French horn, said Grams brought in the school’s television station, WTV, in October to record a promotion to air the following day. It was revealed that it wasn’t a promotion, but an acceptance to play in Pasadena, Calif.

“There were a bunch of representatives and they knew it was way too big to just be a promotion,” said senior Kathryn Stocker, a flute player.

After all, a promotion — quick and easy — doesn’t really fit this group. When Grams and his wife, Jennifer, a teacher at Marcus Whitman Junior High, moved from Montana to Port Orchard in 2002, he was the school’s third band director in four years. Grams said his predecessors left after the levy failed and many of the students departed as well. He started the 2002-03 school year with just 48 participants.

“I looked at it as an opportunity,” said Grams, who played the trombone, baritone and tuba in high school and performed at the 1991 Tournament of Roses Parade as a member of the Wyoming High School All-State Centennial Marching Band. “I could shape and mold it into my vision. To teach at a big school like this in Montana, I would have to teach for 30 years and be networked to the gills.”

Grams notes that his band at Campbell County High School in Wyoming — the least populous state in the country — featured 75 to 80 students. At Shepherd High School in Montana, his previous position, there were 75 band members in the 250-member student body.

There’s no debate within the program, which now has 100 members, that the rebuilding process culminated in Grams’ fifth year. In April 2007, the band traveled to the Heritage Festival in Orlando, Fla. South’s wind ensemble earned second place in that event.

“It was kind of the catalyst,” Grams said. “We need that little extra push.”

Grams said he continually has raised expectations as the program has developed under his system. A trophy case in the room, donated by the Class of 2007, nearly is full. Senior Kyle Tomko, who plays the tuba, credits the last few classes that have entered the band for bringing “maturity” to the group.

“I just give props to the entire band for what we’ve accomplished,” Tomko said. “We’ve always had the talent — it’s nice to see us get the recognition.”

The band has performed in several events the last couple of years, including Seattle’s Macy’s Holiday Parade year since 2005. South also has competed in Wenatchee’s Apple Blossom Parade, Bremerton’s Armed Forces Parade and Husky Band Day the last several years. They also recorded “Magical Mystery Tour Medley” that finished in the top 10 in the “Battle of the Bands Competition” through KZOK and The Rock Wood Fired Pizza.

That song was cited as a favorite of several band members, but many agreed that “Mr. Roboto” by Styx is the best song for the group. Grams said the song plays to the band’s strength of hitting the high notes, particularly the big one after the intro.

“Mr. Roboto” has become a regular feature at South football games and has attracted some attention. Grams said he was inspired to apply for the event after a former Tournament of Roses music-selection committee member suggested it after the band’s performance at the 2007 Macy’s parade. He compiled a “résumé” of the group’s work and sent it with a portfolio, which included letters of recommendation such people as Gov. Christine Gregoire, and mailed it to the selection committee last spring.

“I just wanted to wait until the band was big enough and reached the level of maturity to do it,” Grams said.

The Tournament of Roses Parade is viewed by an estimated 100 million U.S. households. In a news release, 2010 president of the Tournament of Roses Association Gary DiSano said South’s band was selected based on its “excellent musical talents, performance skills, efforts and outstanding directorship.”

Grams said between performances, the band will be busy fund-raising. He estimates the cost to send 120 members down to the event will be about $192,000.

In addition to local efforts, Grams hopes to solicit major corporations to help offset the expenses.

“It’s like a snowball that’s getting bigger and bigger,” Boyd said. “We’re going to put Port Orchard and South Kitsap out there.”