SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — Kaitlin Merck is more used to standing in front of the marching band these days than actually marching with them.

The band director at Social Circle Middle and High schools, Merck has worked to build up the program at the small high school and mold her student musicians into the best they can be.

This means a lot of directing practices, selecting music, designing halftime shows and other administrative tasks, but it doesn’t involve a lot of marching on her part.

So it’ll be a bit of a jump as she returns to marching with a band on one of the biggest stages possible on New Year’s Day: the Pasadena Rose Parade, part of the annual festivities before the famous Rose Bowl football game in California.

“The marching arts have always been a passion of mine,” Merck said. “I look forward to getting back to being on the performer side of an ensemble yet again. I haven’t marched since 2015 when I was a trumpet player in The Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps and this is the best return to marching I can think of.”

Merck will be marching with an ensemble of band directors from across the country, one of 270 teachers chosen for the occasion.

The Saluting America’s Band Directors project has assembled band directors from across the country to march Jan. 1 under the theme, “America’s band directors: We teach music. We teach life.”

Merck said she was honored when she discovered she was selected for the group.

“I am very excited to help spread my love of music and the importance of music education with everyone,” Merck said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am honored to have been selected.”

She was a bit surprised, as well. With only 270 spots, she knew she had fierce competition from across the nation.

“I heard about this opportunity through another band director friend in north Georgia and I couldn’t resist applying,” Merck said. “I am very honored to have been chosen. I know there are many wonderful band directors who could have had my spot. I am one of 12 flutes chosen to participate from across the U.S.”

She said it would not only be a return to the marching band for her, but a reunion with old marching band compatriots, as well.

“I get to march alongside old friends from my Atlanta CV and Seattle Cascades Drum Corps days,” she said. “It is really cool to get to march literally next to and reconnect with someone I marched with back in 2015 when I was a part of the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps.”

The band will accompany a colorful, animated float along the 5.5-mile parade route.

The band will be directed by nationally known music educator and innovative band director Jon Waters, who will also direct rehearsals and a Bandfest performance in Pasadena.

Merck said she’s thrilled to be marching in the parade, not only for the joy of returning to a marching ensemble or to connect with old friends, but to show her students what they can do if they continue to work hard at their own musical talents.

“I am doing this to honor all of my students and the band directors who have taught and inspired me including my high school band director, Ryan Dukes, and my mentor teacher, Jeffrey Rowser,” Merck said. “ I want to be an inspiration to my students just like Dukes and Rowser were for me.”

The sponsoring organization behind the Saluting America’s Band Directors project is the Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation, based in Pickerington, Ohio. The foundation was created to recognize and carry on the work of the late Mike Sewell, who dedicated his life to the school and community music programs in Pickerington and the Central Ohio area for almost 40 years.