West Michigan’s Northern Lights Homeschool Marching Band Marches Into Its 28th Year
Local Homeschool News: Michigan
Who says homeschoolers can’t be in marching band? In West Michigan, about 150 homeschool students ages 9 to 19 march together in the Northern Lights band, which rehearses Wednesday mornings in Byron Center (MLive).
The band is run by West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts. Director Scott March said his wife, Wendy, a homeschool mom of six boys trained as a band teacher, started it in 1996 with 40 students when there was little music available for homeschoolers. Today the program serves more than 600 students on its Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo campuses. It also offers band, orchestra, choir, handbells, guitar, and color guard year-round.
The Northern Lights have performed on Mackinac Island, in Washington, D.C., and at the Traverse City Cherry Festival. This summer they were invited to represent Michigan at Philadelphia’s Fourth of July Semiquincentennial Parade. When heat above 100 degrees canceled that parade, they still performed in a smaller neighborhood parade.
Younger children can join the junior color guard, and many students stay through the summer after graduation. Parents pitch in at rehearsals. “I like to see the different friendships and connections that they make,” parent Stephanie Northway said. Band director Nick DeBone said the students get a musical education that “rivals some of the biggest public schools out there.”
For more on homeschooling in the state, see our Michigan Homeschool Laws page.
Sources:
- Rachel Lewis, “Homeschool students in Michigan find community through marching band,” MLive, August 16, 2026