HOMEWOOD, Ala. (WIAT) - With temperatures soaring back into the triple digits the next few days, it can cause some health concerns for prolonged outdoor activities.
Some outdoor events like band camps are keeping the heat in mind and taking some extra precautions to keep students safe amid intense heat.
Homewood High School's band has a new hydration station built by one of its own members for his Eagle Scout project.
"Throughout my freshman and sophomore years, I noticed how like our current water situation was just not super good," rising junior Davis Bird said. "They were just sitting on the just, like, bleacher seats and it was just like they’d get overheated and it’d be like a lot more difficult to transport back and forth.”
Band camp for Homewood High School is in full swing with students rehearsing most of the day. Rehearsal starts outside around 8 A.M. before it gets too hot with students moving inside during the afternoon to get out of the heat and wrapping up back outside as the sun starts to go down.
"We try to go about 20-25 minutes and then we’ll give them like a 10-15 minute break somewhere so we’re being a little productive but also taking care of their hydration and making sure they’re staying safe," assistant band director Terrance Cobb said. "We encourage them to bring out tents and things.”
"We’re used to doing this in the heat and we take a lot of measures to not put anybody in danger," drum major and rising junior Shelby Parks said. "It’s just Alabama weather to us.”
Extreme heat can not only be physically draining but mentally draining too, and the Homewood band is doing its best to combat mental exhaustion through themed practices.
"We get more done when we’re happy and we’re having a good time and I know, especially for me, when I’m dressed up I’m like ‘ooh I want to get to practice, I want to be there, I want to take the pictures’ and so I just really think it helps us move forward,” Parks said.
“I make some of my best friends out here and I think that’s something so special that is hard to find anywhere else because we have such a great sense of community here,” drum major and rising junior Becca Pearson said.
Band members are also allowed to have water bottles and portable fans with them on the field during practice to help stay cool.