West Virginia high school band to perform in D.C. 4th of July parade

SISTERSVILLE, W.Va. (WBOY) — Tyler Consolidated High School is set to march its way to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 2025 National Independence Day Parade.

The band received the invitation in early 2024 from Senator Shelley Moore Capito and has been preparing for the parade since March of this year, thanks to funding from the Tyler County Board of Education.

Band Director Matthew Jennings said that this opportunity gives his class a sense of pride, not just in their school and state, but also for their country.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to march in your nation’s capital on the Fourth of July. They’re really excited about it, I think it’s one of those things that’ll hit them just how big of an event it is once they get over there and I know it’s going to cause an enormous amount of pride for their school, for West Virginia, and for the United States of America, I mean they’re going to be feeling really good when they’re coming down the street on constitution avenue,” Jennings said.

Tyler Consolidated was just one of 26 schools from across the nation selected to participate in this year’s parade, joining fellow high schools from states such as Louisiana, Arkansas and California.

Fifty students from Tyler Consolidated will be marching this weekend, performing an arrangement of America the Beautiful and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Section Leader Mya Fetty said that this is a unique opportunity for her and her classmates and that it feels great to be among the bands invited.

“It was so breathtaking to think that we, out of all the bands that could have been chosen for this, we were the ones that get to be chosen, and just to think that we’re good enough to be chosen, it’s a great thing to think about,” Fetty said.

The parade will take place on Friday, July 4, at 11:45 a.m. and will be available to watch on demand on YouTube and the parade’s website shortly after completion.

The band departs for Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning and will return on Saturday afternoon. The band will also be visiting popular historic landmarks such as the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian Museum.