When you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with dozens of classmates marching on a football field, “team” isn’t the only word that comes to mind.

“Band, it’s like a family,” senior drum major Taylor Rimer said. “We work as a family. We communicate like a family, hold each other accountable like a family and we perform like a family.

“Family is an important, big word here.”

“And also, band,” clarinet section leader Lizzy Little added.

As laughter filled Gary Grams’ office in South Kitsap High School’s music wing, the eclectic group sitting on the floor agreed that, yes, band and family are synonymous in this safe haven.

Here’s an introduction to this “family”: Rimer, Little, Audrey Vermillion (saxophone), Matthew Martin (junior drum major). Anna Somerville (senior field marshal), David Baher (alto saxophone), Kristina Davis (piccolo), Summer Turnberg (flute), Larissa Miller (flute) and Elyse Christopher (trumpet). Ten members, representing 160 kids who make up the marching band that performs every Friday night, sat in their teacher’s office like it was their own living room to explain what it is about this group that is so special.

And it all starts with Grams, who has been teaching the kids at South for 14 years. He said it’s their program. He’s just here to facilitate, but “facilitating” is an awfully large umbrella, especially on Fridays.

“On Fridays after school, we gather and practice — usually we go from 2:30 p.m. to 5 or 5:30 p.m.,” Somerville said of the band’s football schedule.

Then comes meals provided by the band boosters, followed by the game where the team plays off-field during the on-field action. They then perform their field show at halftime. All of which was prepared months earlier.

“What people don’t realize is our season starts in August and doesn’t really end until the next August,” Rimer said.

The team attends band camp every summer where they perfect their field show. This year’s theme is Bon Jovi, which the group describes as an “omen.”

“Every time I got in the car this summer, Bon Jovi was on,” Grams said.

And after collaborating ideas with the three leaders (Rimer, Somerville and Martin) and the rest of the band, the set list was born.

“People respond to music really well,” Little said. “It’s cool because they know the songs and sing with our playing.”

Along with performing classics like “Living on a Prayer” at halftime, the band plays intermittently throughout the game, much to the fans’ enjoyment.

“We have the power to pump the crowd up,” Martin said. “And people really get into it.”

But football games aren’t the only time the band draws large crowds. Every year, the band travels to different parts of North America to perform in parades. Last year, they went to Washington, D.C. They’ve traveled to Hawaii, Florida, Oregon and California to play at the Rose Bowl, and to New York to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

This year, they will head up to Canada to perform in the Victoria Day Parade. And with these trips come priceless memories. When you bring up the the Capitol, they go off on tangents about the $70 worth of french fries they consumed one night. They talk about old inside jokes that provokes Grams to firmly say, “We are not talking about that again.”

They talk about how Somerville got stuck on the strings of a cart of balloons at the Macy’s Parade and had to spin in circles to stay with the beat and untangle herself. They talk about how every time they hear certain songs, like “Come On Eileen,” they practice their time differences and sidestepping in the hallway between classes.

With all this in mind, it’s safe to say that band is more than just a “club.” One can even make the argument about its designation as a sport.

“At camp, we were playing for eight hours a day, working on our craft,” Rimer said. “Everyone here is dedicated and works hard for us to be so successful.”

Members in the band do earn a letter for their work, and they are also held to a high academic standard, just like sports teams. The average GPA of the group is 3.1. The wood ensemble alone holds an average of 3.4, and 100 percent of the band seniors graduate.

Several members of the band participate in athletics as well. Martin plays for the water polo team and Nolan Winn, a sophomore saxophonist, plays on the football team. During halftime, you can see No. 64, in full pads, up front keeping beat.

“We’re the biggest clique on campus, really,” Martin said.

And that clique spreads further than those marching on the field. In fact, it’s easier to spot a band parent at home games because there are so many filling the stands in black “South Kitsap Band” sweatshirts.

The “Band Boosters,” as they are fondly called, provide food on game nights, fund-raise to help pay for trips, wash and hem all 285 uniforms and do much more. Their help isn’t overlooked by the young musicians.

“We have an incredible support system,” Somerville said.

Rimer added that having talked with a lot of parents, it is obvious how much they enjoy watching their kids be a part of something. “They support the organization like the organization supports their kids.”

Behind the countless volunteers who deserve to be recognized, the students and faculty who support the band and its 160 musicians, stands one man who puts in unearthly hours of his own time to work with the kids.

But he doesn’t particularly enjoy the praise. When the 10 musicians sitting “criss-cross-applesauce” in his office began talking about him, he left the room.

“There are so many of us from all walks of life, and he welcomes everyone with open arms,” Rimer said.

The others quickly chimed in, describing Grams as a friend and father figure. He is someone who is all ears. Unlike just about any other teacher in the building, he allows his office to be “dedicated to so many tears.”

“He is furthering our careers and our education,” Somerville said. “Taylor came in needing advice about college applications, and he sat in here for 20 minutes past when we started to sit and talk with her.”

The group echoed similar sentiments before Grams poked his head back in, asking if they were done talking about him. The group answered with a resounding “No!”

Their praise of the band’s support systems and their leader, the heated debates about whether or not the band should form an electoral college answering to the heads of each section and the talk of Turnberg’s random cartwheeling in P.E., show that South Kitsap’s marching band really is a family. And that they deserve all the recognition they have earned.

“The friendships and relationships in band, you treasure these people, and they last the rest of your life,” Somerville said. “It’s worth it. It’s a good thing for sure.”

Plus, as Little said, “You’ll look kind of great in the uniform.” And the office, yet again, erupted in laughter.

*This story was updated to fix misspelled names. In the previous version Taylor Rimer was spelt Rymer. The name of the band leader is Gary Grams not Greg.