Winter guard is just like color guard except participants compete indoors, barefoot and with no band; instead they use recorded music. Many Westside students are involved with winter guard. The club is run through an independent group called Clarity Independent, through Iowa Western Community College.

To be involved in the winter guard program, students must go through a tryout process. Senior Amanda Patterson, has been involved with winter guard for three seasons now.

“Each tryout is different. For this season, they taught us a routine and then had us perform it twice,” Patterson said. “If you could do it, and you were proficient in listening to instructions.”

Throughout each season, the guard team competes in four to five competitions, by performing on tarps to music which they have choreographed for their routine.

Many students on guard have said that they joined because they really love participating in color guard and wanted to continue with the same thing throughout other seasons even when it isn’t in session.

“It is a great stress reliever. It really takes a load off of the senior stress that we all get,” Patterson said. ”It is so much fun and it is a great experience. I definitely recommend students joining if they are looking for something new to do.”