School Spirit Day with the Odessa High School Marching Band

ODESSA, Del. (WPVI) -- We're featuring the not one, not two, but three-time state champion Odessa High School Marching Band.

6abc Action News traveled down to Odessa to watch the Ducks perform in the field in front of the high school. Friday's wintery mix couldn't freeze the school spirit there.

The state champion Ducks may be relatively new, but there's a lot of pride in the yellow and green.

"We talk about it being a family here and it really is. We all work together and hang out like all the time," said drum major Ruby Wall.

Let's back up. Odessa High School is new: it opened in fall 2020. The campus connects pre-k all the way to the high school. The first year, the band had only eight members. Now they have over 80 with a strong feeder program from the middle school.

"It's all about building our band family here. One of the things we've always focused on is that everyone felt part of this program and felt special," said band director Brian Endlein.

8th grader Rachel Silverstein is one of those middle schoolers who has had the opportunity to spend time with the high schoolers.

"It just allows you to like have friends going into high school and it makes it a lot easier and it just makes it a lot of fun," she said.

The work is far from over too. At the end of the holiday season, they'll be packing their bags for England to play in the London New Year's Day Parade.

"Most bands are done by now, we're still going every Monday, Wednesday and we're just repping, repping, repping, getting ready," said sophomore Carter Pollard.

You can see a couple of these Odessa ducks featured on Thanksgiving Day; a select few will be featured on the school spirit float during the 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade.