The Daniel Boone Area School District 120-member marching band won their first-ever Atlantic Coast Championship on Nov. 8 at Hershey Park Stadium.

Sponsored by the Tournament of Bands and the National Judges Association, the ACC's bring together the top high school marching bands from Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The event has been held regularly since 1973 and is considered one of the most prestigious marching band events in the country.

Bands are divided into different “classes” based on their overall size - Daniel Boone was in Group IV (the largest with 76-plus musicians). Each band starts during the summer learning their show, and performs numerous times at football games and competitions throughout the area.

Daniel Boone entered the competition ranked third overall in its class, based on qualifying events at the end of October.

Groups are adjudicated based on the individual contribution of each member from a musical and visual standpoint, as well as the overall show design and execution.

Also winning in class IV was Spring-Ford High School, which took second place.

Daniel Boone also won the award for overall visual performance. Spring-Ford won awards for overall music and percussion performance, while Northern York won the overall color guard award.

Boone's score of 97.75 is a school record for the program, and is the highest score in the competitive circuit for the season - a fall that saw close to 200 school marching programs perform at a show.

“This year has really been about conveying a message with our show,” band director Justin A. McAdams said. “The entire program was built around the idea of a musician who is deaf. What if you couldn't hear what you were playing, but could just see someone playing?

"We also have a member of the staff (who is also an elementary teacher in the district) that had a strong background in sign language, so we incorporated that into the program as well. The kids bought into the idea, and really focused on performing to their fullest potential,” McAdams added.

This is the band's second championship, with the last in 2005, but in a lower division.