Music, movement and school spirit: The marching band is a place where people can become better musicians and make new friends. There are also opportunities to travel. The Cooper Fighting Hawks Marching Band is planning to visit Washington, D.C., in 2025.
The Robbinsdale Cooper High School Marching Band was nominated by U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (MN-05). Omar’s district includes parts of Minneapolis and many suburbs in Ramsey, Anoka, and Hennepin County: Columbia Heights, Fridley, Hilltop, Spring Lake Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, Edina, Golden Valley, New Hope, Richfield, St. Anthony and St. Louis Park.
Cooper students were then selected to represent Minnesota in the National Independence Day Parade. This parade is the official and largest 4th of July Parade in the nation. The parade will go down Constitution Avenue, passing by the Smithsonian Museums, the Washington Monument, the White House, the National WWII Memorial, and other landmarks. It’s estimated that half a million spectators will watch in person and millions of virtual spectators will watch it through a livestream.
Markus Hahn, band director, is very excited and very proud.
“When I saw the email from the parade committee, I was flabbergasted that we get to have this opportunity,” Hahn said. “... It’s one thing to go to Washington, D.C., and it’s another thing to go there during Independence Day, and another thing to be part of the pomp and circumstance of the holiday.”
The group has traveled before, most recently to Chicago for a St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The school was in the middle of planning a trip to Atlanta Georgia when they were invited to Washington, D.C.
Mark Rosenblum, drum line instructor, described Cooper’s band as a little small, but full of many talented students.
“They very much can hold their own with less people,” Rosenblum said. “And it is a nod to Mr. Hahn’s ability.”
Hahn told the Sun Post his father Richard Hahn is a retired music educator who took students to a lot of parades.
“I’m fortunate that I have a breadth of experience to draw on through my father,” Hahn said. “So he can even tell me about the hydration strategies he used for his bands so he didn’t drop anybody. It’s in July. It’s gonna be hot. And if you hydrate correctly, you’re gonna be fine.”
Details for the Cooper trip will be finalized in May. Students who sign up this spring to be in marching band will be eligible to travel in July 2025. Hahn estimates the trip will be about five days.
There is a cost for transport, food and lodging which has not yet been determined. The goal is to make the trip as affordable as possible. Many students have never been outside of the state before and are very eager to go. Students are selling candy bars and collecting money at concerts to help pay for the trip.
To donate, go to tinyurl.com/cooperband.
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