Arts Student of the Week Rae Sweeney

Niwot High School student Rae Sweeney has been an outstanding leader of the Niwot High School Color Guard for the last two seasons. The Color Guard performs with the marching band at football halftime shows, in parades, and at competitions, using a combination of flags, sabers, mock rifles, and other equipment, as well as dance and other interpretive movements. Its main purpose is to interpret the music that is being played by the band through dance and synchronized movements.

Sweeney remembers that when they were trying to decide which middle school electives to sign up for, their mother said, "You know, I did Color Guard."

"That actually sounds interesting," Sweeney thought. "I remember I watched old videos of her, and I remember seeing how cool her marching band looked. They had a show where they had these gigantic flags. I think they were 10 feet. It was insane." After that, Sweeney was hooked. "So, I joined the Color Guard and I instantly fell in love with it. I remember back in 2020 when I joined, there was Covid. And it was one of those things that got me to go outside and spin flags and practice it, and that made me really happy to be able to do that."

Color Guard originally gets its name from the military, when soldiers were responsible for guarding the regimental flag, or "colors." Each unit would march with an appointed guard defending the colors from attack.

"At its primary level," Sweeney said, "it is about spinning flags. Specifically, spinning flags to music. And especially in the marching band setting, I would say it's the biggest visual aspect of a marching band show. We move, we dance. We spin flags. We'll use equipment like rifles or sabers. It's mostly dance with equipment."

According to Wade Hendricks, the director of bands at NHS who selected Sweeney as Arts Student of the Week, Sweeney played a pivotal role in the Color Guard choreography for the NHS 2023 Star Wars show, teaching the group the choreography.

Sweeney reflected, "It's taught me a lot because I've watched my Guard go through this stage where they are uncertain, not knowing what to do. And I had to push them away from looking at other people and they were not sure. Eventually by the end of the year they were able to do all the choreography without ever looking and if they messed up they just thought about it and then they got right back into the choreography. All of our songs were Star Wars-themed. In the middle of our show we had one of our songs with the Cantina band. We did a dance with lightsabers, and in the middle we had an improv section in which we all duel each other."

Sweeney has just finished their fourth year performing with the Marching Band. According to Hendricks, Sweeney has had "a pivotal role leading the Guard in all of the aspects of our field show-everything from teaching the choreography to leading sectionals to planning and designing the look of our Star Wars show, to being an integral member of the Band Leadership Team. Our Guard is stronger because Rae has been an outstanding member."

A performer in the Treble, Sedalia, Chamber Singers, and Evenstar choirs at NHS, Sweeney grew interested in music in elementary school. They remember that their elementary school teacher had every grade perform a concert each year. "He also ran an elementary school show choir," Sweeney said. "And I joined that too. And I had a fun time. I picked up voice lessons in fifth grade. I've really enjoyed it, especially in more recent years. I've started to love doing harmonies and really investing myself into the actual music aspect and not just singing the notes. I've started to really love the music."

Sweeney, who also plays ukulele among other musical instruments, credits middle school choir teacher Megan Lawless for providing inspiration and support. "It was her support," Sweeney recalled, "that made me be able to get in the middle school Allstate choir when I was in eighth grade."

In voice lessons, Sweeney remembers working for four or five years on a song called "The Trees on the Mountain,'' from Carlisle Floyd's 1955 opera, "Susannah." "It was a very fun song to work on because it had these really, really high notes. At the time I was in seventh grade and I'd never sung high notes like that. And it took me years and years to build up, singing those high notes well. But I remember when I got to the point where I was able to actually perform it, for my last voice lessons recital, I was able to sing it really, really well."

An International Baccalaureate student at NHS, Sweeney has been able to balance choir and Color Guard with all the academics of their IB courses. "It's taught me to appreciate all the music I do because I can find myself getting lost in all the hard work I have, and then I'm able to go to choir or Color Guard. It's taught me to balance both. Like having to work hard, but to know you'd still be doing art. It made me realize you can do both."

Sweeney is also very interested in psychology, and has done a lot of psychological research for their extended essay for the IB diploma about how drug addiction impacts prisoners within the prison system. And Sweeney loves to bake. "I like baking things especially because I can do something for other people and help liven up spirits during finals season when you can be really stressed out."

Sweeney will most likely attend college at CU. "I want to double major in psychology and vocal performance, which is my hope. And I'm hoping also in the future, I can do college marching band as well as Color. I want to incorporate it all."

"I would like to say that I've only gotten as far as I have because, even though I'm doing a lot, I've chosen to commit my full heart to all of what I'm doing. And that being able to commit to what you're doing and being confident in what you do, no matter how hard those things may be, has been my greatest strength. It's honestly the people that I'm with that makes me love all the things I do, especially in choir and with Color Guard."