Rachel Schaeffer's winning essay and video answered the question, "How has marching band affected your life?" An online poll of readers and website visitors determined the winner.

More than $3,000 in prizes will be awarded to Schaeffer during the Old Bridge Township Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25th at 7 p.m., followed by a party for the entire band sponsored by Halftime Magazine. 

"This is a big deal to me," Schaeffer says. "At first [my band] didn't think much, but then they found out we could win $3,000, and they got excited."

Halftime Magazine, a glossy print publication and online community that highlights the "sights, sounds and spirit of the marching arts," started this contest to showcase the life-changing effects of marching and to give back to the community. "The contest provides equipment and funds in the face of dwindling arts budgets," says CEO/publisher Christine Ngeo Katzman. "At the same time, it features the talents of many performers in a national magazine."

As early as February, when the marching band schedule for the ever-so-quickly approaching fall season is released, everything in my life is put on hold. Dance rehearsals become an inferior second, soccer practices are fit in where there's time, and free weekends to hang out with my friends cease as if they never existed before. And I love it.

To read Schaeffer's essay and view her video as well as the other finalists' entries, visit www.halftimemag.com/articles/nominate-your-band-2007.html.

The prize package valued at more than $3,000 comprises the following: