Homecoming night at Cody High School wasn’t just about the game—it was about the music.
For the first time in 20 years, the school’s marching band took center stage at halftime, and the crowd erupted. Twenty-four students with instruments in hand delivered a performance that was decades in the making.
The revival came through a $439,000 grant that provided tutoring, meals, and music lessons to five Detroit public schools. But bringing back the band took more than funding—it took grit.
“The miles we ran, the struggles, people cried,” one student said. “I’m happy everybody stuck through it because at the end of the day, sticking through hard things makes you stronger.”
Leading the charge is band director Damian Lyles, who left his teaching job out of state and moved back to Detroit for one reason: to revive Cody’s program.
“I was a part of the great era when marching band was huge here in Detroit,” Lyles said. “I want to see that glory come back.”
For a city where marching bands were once legendary, Friday night was more than a performance. It was the sound of a comeback.
