Rhonkeita Good will lead the Natchez High School Band this fall as its new assistant drum major.

Good, a junior at Natchez High, tried out against seven other people to win the spot and attended a drum major and guard camp last week to receive training for the position.

&uot;I have always wanted to be drum major,&uot; said Good, who plays trumpet for the band and is the daughter of Ronnie and Frances Bates.

As assistant drum major, she will work alongside Michael Anderson, another band member who attended camp with her and who was the band’s drum major last year.

At camp, the coaches told Good and Anderson they &uot;are twins&uot;&160;because they must work at as a team and mimic each other’s movements on the field.

If the drum majors don’t work together, the band might play at different tempos or not know when to make their entrances, Good said.

Good said she also learned different conducting patterns, the importance of saluting and how to handle a mace – a baton drum majors carry – while at camp.

Handling the mace wasn’t the easiest lesson – Good said she hit herself in the head several times as she learned how to twirl and toss it in the air.

&uot;It’s a dangerous weapon, but you have to learn to control it,&uot; Good remembers her camp instructor telling her.

While at the camp, Anderson and Good placed first in the uniform competition. And Good also received two superior ratings for her performance at the camp.

&uot;I was really proud about it,&uot; said Good, who said she was surprised to receive two superiors.

Good said she first began playing the trumpet in the fifth-grade because she wanted to try something new.

In middle school, she continued to play the trumpet and served as drum major for the Natchez Middle School Band, which helped her decided she wanted to be a drum major in high school.

&uot;I liked it when I was in middle school,&uot; she said.

Good, , said she wants to play in band throughout high school.