The Newtown High School Winter Percussion competed at the 2018 WGI Trumbull Percussion Regional competition in the Scholastic Marching A division on March 3 at Trumbull High School. Performing its show "Moving Forward," the ensemble placed first in the preliminaries with a score of 80.3. The group then earned first place in the finals with a score of 83.0.For more information about the NHS Band and Guard, visit newtownbandandguard.weebly.com.

The regional percussion groups competing at the event were from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.

Ricky Grasso and Kevin Thompson direct NHS's Winter Percussion group.

On the same day, the NHS Winter Guard competed at the Musical Arts Conference (MAC) event held at Naugatuck High School on Saturday, March 3. NHS Varsity missed taking home first place by just one point in the Scholastic National A division with its "Stormy Weather" show, directed by Conor Kovatch, Tory Whittington, and Philip Hong. The NHS Junior Varsity performed "Mining for Gold" under the direction of Grace McKinley and Ricky Grasso, and took first place in the Scholastic Middle School class.

Newtown Varsity and Junior Varsity Winter Guards will perform at the next MAC competition on Saturday, March 10, at Shelton High School. Winter Percussion's next competition is a USBands event on March 17 at East Haven High School.