By Mackenzie Arthur / staff writer and Lillian Buist / Editor-in-chief
The 2026 New Palestine Winter Guard show is titled “Living Portraits.”
“We’re not clown clowns. We’re like fun clowns, not creepy or anything. We are in picture frames at the start and then we come alive and go through them. We dance and have fun,” sophomore Winter Guard captain Elizabeth Thrasher said.
The show expresses themes of nostalgia and friendship, utilizing pastel colors and props to tell the story.
“It’s not childish but it brings me back to my childhood. [It’s] like dancing around in the rain having fun with my friends,” Thrasher said.
As the competition season approaches, the Winter Guard dedicates their time to practicing.
“We have practice on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Saturdays are all day. We do our warm up and across the floor. Then we do technique on equipment,” Thrasher said.
The winter guard is trying to drill in a particular section of their show, the flag feature.
“Our flag feature is really cool. A lot of us can do it, it just gets a little messy. But if we get that nailed down then we’re golden,” Thrasher said.
In the fall, sophomore Sarah Lukens marched with the Marching Dragons. For the winter season, she will be a part of the winter guard production.
Lukens has participated in color guard for two seasons on the Regional A (RA) team, a team primarily composed of NPJH students. This year, however, she moved up to the A team, which is made up of mostly NPHS and select NPJH students.
“I feel so successful because I’m able to do this and able to move up without having to sacrifice playing my flute in the fall and doing marching band,” Lukens said. “I think I’m the only person in the A guard who didn’t march this past season, and I’m the only person in the A guard who’s only had two years of color guard, and so I was just honestly really shocked when I made it this year because I didn’t think that I would.”
Lukens also gets to participate in color guard with her older sister, junior Abigail Lukens, an experience she finds to be particularly special.
“We see each other all the time, but we also get to see each other at guard. We just have that extra thing to connect to each other with on top of just being sisters,” sophomore Sarah Lukens said.
A highlight of the winter guard season is competing at the Winter Guard International (WGI) competition. Guard members are given the opportunity to strengthen friendships and grow new ones.
“I’m always looking forward to WGI, just because it’s such an incredible competitive experience, but it’s also just a really great way to bond with our team. It’s so much fun to be able to just go on our little field trip, compete, be together, sharing rooms, getting to experience other guards that we would probably never see if it weren’t for WGI, because they’re from all over the US and a couple from like, a couple French Canadian teams, it’s just incredible, and it’s just one big arena full of people who have the same passion, and it’s really exciting, so I always look forward to WGI,” senior Winter Guard captain Shelly Stock said.
While all competitors are guaranteed one performance at WGI, a second performance is not guaranteed. The winter guard is working hard to earn a second performance.
“Personally, I just want to keep working on my trick tosses, keep working on bettering myself, and enjoy my time while I have it. As a team, we’re kind of shooting to get a little higher up in our division this year. We’re wanting to get a second performance at a WGI. We want to score a little better now that we have the training to do so,” Stock said.
The New Palestine Winter Guard season officially kicked off on Jan. 24. From there the team will continue to compete until their last competition, WGI.
“You really can’t have guard without having teamwork, because everything relies on us working together. We have to count together, we have to fold our tarp together, we have to move our props, we have to make sure we’re all doing what the choreography is, and putting on the show that the audience wants to see and the directors choreographed. So without teamwork, there is no show,” Stock said. The 2026 New Palestine Winter Guard show is titled “Living Portraits.”
“We’re not clown clowns. We’re like fun clowns, not creepy or anything. We are in picture frames at the start and then we come alive and go through them. We dance and have fun,” sophomore Winter Guard captain Elizabeth Thrasher said.
The show expresses themes of nostalgia and friendship, utilizing pastel colors and props to tell the story.
“It’s not childish but it brings me back to my childhood. [It’s] like dancing around in the rain having fun with my friends,” Thrasher said.
As the competition season approaches, the Winter Guard dedicates their time to practicing.
“We have practice on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Saturdays are all day. We do our warm up and across the floor. Then we do technique on equipment,” Thrasher said.
The winter guard is trying to drill in a particular section of their show, the flag feature.
“Our flag feature is really cool. A lot of us can do it, it just gets a little messy. But if we get that nailed down then we’re golden,” Thrasher said.
In the fall, sophomore Sarah Lukens marched with the Marching Dragons. For the winter season, she will be a part of the winter guard production.
Lukens has participated in color guard for two seasons on the Regional A (RA) team, a team primarily composed of NPJH students. This year, however, she moved up to the A team, which is made up of mostly NPHS and select NPJH students.
“I feel so successful because I’m able to do this and able to move up without having to sacrifice playing my flute in the fall and doing marching band,” Lukens said. “I think I’m the only person in the A guard who didn’t march this past season, and I’m the only person in the A guard who’s only had two years of color guard, and so I was just honestly really shocked when I made it this year because I didn’t think that I would.”
Lukens also gets to participate in color guard with her older sister, junior Abigail Lukens, an experience she finds to be particularly special.
“We see each other all the time, but we also get to see each other at guard. We just have that extra thing to connect to each other with on top of just being sisters,” sophomore Sarah Lukens said.
A highlight of the winter guard season is competing at the Winter Guard International (WGI) competition. Guard members are given the opportunity to strengthen friendships and grow new ones.
“I’m always looking forward to WGI, just because it’s such an incredible competitive experience, but it’s also just a really great way to bond with our team. It’s so much fun to be able to just go on our little field trip, compete, be together, sharing rooms, getting to experience other guards that we would probably never see if it weren’t for WGI, because they’re from all over the US and a couple from like, a couple French Canadian teams, it’s just incredible, and it’s just one big arena full of people who have the same passion, and it’s really exciting, so I always look forward to WGI,” senior Winter Guard captain Shelly Stock said.
While all competitors are guaranteed one performance at WGI, a second performance is not guaranteed. The winter guard is working hard to earn a second performance.
“Personally, I just want to keep working on my trick tosses, keep working on bettering myself, and enjoy my time while I have it. As a team, we’re kind of shooting to get a little higher up in our division this year. We’re wanting to get a second performance at a WGI. We want to score a little better now that we have the training to do so,” Stock said.
The New Palestine Winter Guard season officially kicked off on Jan. 24. From there the team will continue to compete until their last competition, WGI.
“You really can’t have guard without having teamwork, because everything relies on us working together. We have to count together, we have to fold our tarp together, we have to move our props, we have to make sure we’re all doing what the choreography is, and putting on the show that the audience wants to see and the directors choreographed. So without teamwork, there is no show,” Stock said.
