We were returning home late at night from a long drive return from an out-of-state visit. In a tired way, I reach down in the dark to open the door. It took us a while to get a flashlight and determine what had happened. I love bandsters. They do fun things without damaging anything.
Just another band prank Read More »
It is 10/16/21 and the band is heading off to Chesterton Regionals today. Of course, I am not with them as I retired….but the day brings back memories of three times I was involved in the Chesterton Regionals. For us, a Class A Band, Regionals alternated between Lafayette and Chesterton. Here are my three memorable years at Chesterton.
The show title was “TIME 20:09”. It was Thaine Campbell’s last marching band performance. The band had not received a Regional Gold rating since 2001. I was standing next to Mr. Campbell when they read the result and heard his noticeable sigh of relief. It would be another two months before he announced his retirement. This picture was taken by a parent from another band at the moment the rating was announced and sent to me with a note about how “real” that moment was for these drum majors and guard captains.
It was October 15. For this particular trip, I was driving a white bus, probably transporting some staff and/or parents.
Just prior to the band’s warm-up transit, I got a call from my brother Jeff — telling me that the nursing home called to say they didn’t expect our mother to make it through the night.
I was not only 120 miles on the wrong side of Huntington plus 200 on the other side.The band was about to perform for final competition and would still be in Chesterton for another couple hours waiting for results. What do I do?
One of the parents offered to leave the competition (missing the band’s performance) to drive me back to Huntington, but would then have driven 240 miles to miss the performance.
Mom had not been very conscious for a few months, and was not conscious at this time. I knew, however, that if she had been, her strong words to me would have been to…
“stay with the band”.
It was about 1:30 AM when we arrived back to Huntington. It was about 2:00 AM when brother called again to say, “She’s gone.” I wouldn’t have made it even if I had kept driving — and probably not even if I had immediately left the competition. I am at peace with my decision.
She was buried on my birthday three days later.
Between 2011 and this year the band had changed from Class A to Scholastic Class to Open Class B. 2018 would be our first trip back to Chesterton since 2011. I had been stressing about the memories I was sure the trip would invoke, but that became a side note when my doctor started me on a treatment the day before and forbid me to travel.
I was in fairly regular communication and was thrilled that this show; “Look Upon My Works” received a GOLD rating with the highest score since at least 2001.
Three Memorable Years at Chesterton Regionals Read More »
“When students feel that teachers and school administrators genuinely care about them and help them to feel welcome, they are more motivated to cooperate and to succeed.” -Robert Brooks, PhD
A former student remembering her band experience wrote that,
“It is more than just about music.”
She attributed the life-skills she learned in band (time management, team building, respect for authority, commitment, self-discipline….) to have been major factors in her success in college, medical school and life.
In a Facebook message from a Music Education major;
“I just wanted to take a moment to thank you again and again for steering me in the right path, …! There is no way I will ever be able to give you the thanks that you really deserve, for the potential you saw in me, for the care you gave me, for the trust you put in me, and for the time and energy you invested in me! You changed a life…MINE.”
Responding to a blog post called, “I Want To Trust You”, another former student wrote;
I’m remembering a little white lie that Tina and I told you just to get out of class for a minute or two……..Unfortunately, you found out about it. I’ve never felt so guilty as when I was caught tricking YOU! You were the TEACHER to go to when things weren’t going ok. And a trusted teacher…….I was SO sorry!”
Four days before Christmas, I received a text message from a senior,
“G, I just got kicked out of my house. Please help me!”
——————————–
Sometimes I complain about my job; about the part-time-ness, the pay, the union, my bosses, the financial realities, and more…. but I will ALWAYS love the teens I get to work with. They can be challenging; sometimes immature, making decisions without thinking through to the consequences of those decisions, they can love you today, hate you tomorrow and love you again the day after……, but if you’re in it for them, you’re positively impacting lives and as the commercial implies, you cannot put a price on that.
UPDATE: I retired from teaching in July of 2020. I still love teens.
Thanks for reading,
John
10 Ways To Earn Student Respect and Trust Read More »
by John Gardner
In a quick search on variations of “teen school behavior”, “teen behavior” and such, I found links to a several behavior modification schools, advertisements for parental survival guides, places that want to segregate teens to ranches or boarding school type setups, medical and mental solutions….. wow. If you watch much TV, you hear about how current teens are falling behind academically or lacking dedication and commitment.
I hear from people who ask how I can be in a room with so many teens or why I would want to spend all that time with them. They inspire me with their youthful enthusiasm, but why rely on second-hand information? Volunteer with a local marching band organization and travel with the group to a marching band competition. There’s a lot of good stuff happening, academic, artsy and otherwise. Here are over 14 ways to volunteer for a marching band to appreciate and applaud what is good about teenage America.
Nearly all bands have a Band Parent Organization, but in some cities, or with smaller bands, finding enough help is a challenge. Most of the adults volunteering with a marching band have students in the band, but very few organizations would limit help to ONLY parents. Jump in. You’ll be accepted, appreciated, respected and even loved.
UNIFORMS. Are you good at measuring and sizing? All band students get sized for uniforms every year. That normally involves finding a coat, trousers and hat that fit. Someone has to keep track of who has what number of which piece of the uniform. Then there is distributing and collecting accessories like gauntlets, plumes, gloves, braids, sashes and other uniform add-ons. Marching Band uniforms can easily cost $400ea, so it would cost $40,000 to uniform a 100-piece band.
There is a need to manage and maintain those uniforms to increase the life expectancy and reduce the frequency of buying new sets. Older uniforms require dry cleaning, which is no small undertaking. Organizing them for pick up or delivery, removing the items that don’t go to the cleaner, then re-assembling and reorganizing upon their return. Some newer uniforms are machine washable – but also no easy task. Do you have a large front loaded washer you would be willing to use for your local band? That also helps with the savings from the dry cleaning bills of before.
COSTUME DESIGN/SEWING. The Color Guards (Flag Corps) generally have a separate, custom-designed outfit to go with the show theme and colors for that year. Drum Major(s) sometimes use a theme-oriented, custom uniform as well. Volunteers can save the band significant money by sewing, rather than purchasing flags and/or uniforms.
CONSTRUCTION / PROPS. You’ve seen the sets on a theater stage. The football field is the marching band’s stage. Bands want props to shrink the size of the stage or to enhance the theme of the show. Props can be decorative or functional (ramps, storage for equipment/uniform/costume changes). Maybe it is building and putting wheels on carts to haul all the extra percussion equipment (marimba, xylophone, timpani, gong, bass drum, keyboard, sound system, etc) in such a way that it can be moved easily.
Local props have included an analog clock painted on a full size trampoline, 10 foot hour glass, a ship complete with flag pole mast and sails that go up and down, tarps, tepees and more. If you’re not the construction type, share your design and creativity talents.
PIT / FIELD CREW. All that sideline ensemble equipment and any props must be put into place and then removed after the performance. Getting the band on and off the field is an operation that some competitions recognize with a “Best Pit Crew” trophy. The good news is that those on the pit crew generally get into the competition for free and get to hang out with the band students around the buses before and after a show. What a deal.
FOOD. Like to cook/fix foods for big events? Like to see smiles on teen faces? Want to serve? When bands travel to competitions and events, there are often times when it is necessary to feed them. The local band students get excited when they hear about “what’s for dinner”, especially things like potato or soup or taco bars, walking tacos, burgers, pizza and the like. Most of the meals served locally cost the band parent organization about $2 per person (does include both donated and purchased items). After a performance there is often a snack table with sweets, fruits and water. If you’re a food service professional, your skills could be especially helpful in planning, coordinating and calculating. Not only do you get into competitions for free and get to hang out with enthusiastic teens, but you also get to enjoy meals with them.
On her post, “Zen and the Art of Drum Corps Shopping”, Emily Tannert describes that most Drum Corps get most of their food from a food service company, but lists the following as a “daily shopping list”:
30 loaves each white and wheat
50 packages hot dog buns
8 gallons milk — 4 x 2 percent, 2 x 1 percent, 2 x skim
1 gallon barbecue sauce
10-plus lbs. peanut butter
250 slices American cheese
40 tomatoes
18 heads lettuce
20 lbs. baby carrots
6 watermelons
Band-aids
Generic Dayquil
Read more of that article.
CHAPERONES. Unlike the general population of the school, band students understand the behavior expectations and how they are held to a higher standard. They understand that travel is a privilege that can be lost. Band students are the cream of the crop, the best of the best, and riding the bus with them, helping them get all their uniform parts together and such…. is really a fun job. Many chaperons are “Mama [insert name]” to the students. They understand chaperons are a reality and they do not make it a hard job. And yes, you get in free…..it is the least we can do.
DRIVERS.The bus drivers are school corporation employees, but most bands have trailers of various sizes, or even a semi to pull. Are you a professional truck driver? Have your own rig? One year our band borrowed a trailer from a local warehouse company that had their advertising on it — and used a truck donated by a local delivery company. A parent volunteer drove and the band parent organization paid for the fuel.
FUNDRAISING. In most high school music programs, both instrumental and vocal, the financial requirements involved in funding a competitive ensemble (show choir / marching band) can be staggering. A new uniform drive needs $40,000 the same year the band is going to Disney ($80,000). Throw in a new set of drumline percussion instruments ($10,000), another $10,000 for a sound system, $25,000 for five new tubas, $3,000 for drill design, $1500 for music, $5,000 for flags and guard uniforms, food for road trips, transportation costs, etc., and you can see that fundraising is a major part of a successful marching program.
Are you good at organizing events, making calls, creating publicity, motivating people? Your skills would be invaluable.
CONTEST/EVENT ORGANIZER. A marching band competition can involve over a dozen marching bands bringing a couple thousand teens, 50 school buses plus vans, trucks, trailers. The group is flying in judges from all over the country, housing and feeding them — as well as providing hospitality for directors and drivers, concessions, advertising, announcing, timers, people to help each group through their event schedule, score tabulators and so much more. Competitions are large fundraisers, but also massive undertakings. Can you help with parking, crowd control, first aid — or as a runner to take care of all the highly stressed and sometimes demanding band directors? Whatever you like to do, there is probably a job for you at a marching band, winter guard or indoor percussion competition.
GRANT WRITING. There is money out there, but the competition for it is great. Are you an experienced grant writer? They could certainly use your help.
BUSINESS MENTORING. Do you run a small business? Have a business degree? Band Directors are trained educators, not necessarily heavily trained in the business skills involved in running the “business” of a travelling competitive program. And the band parent volunteers are always well-meaning parents who want to help, but don’t always have the organizational or motivational skills that could make them more effective and successful contributors to the program.
Especially in programs organizing “competitions” as fundraisers….the organization requirements are huge — and most would accept constructive help from a local business professional.
MEDICAL. Students with asthma have prescription inhalers. Someone severely alergic to bee stings may have emergency medication. There are those on behavioral modification medicines (including narcotics) or with medically prescribed ankle or knee braces. An intensive performance in uniform with the added stress of competition and heat, students need real help when they come off the field. It is not unusual for students to get a variety of injuries (twisted ankles), bumps from flag poles, sun burn, dehydration and more…. The local show choir was fortunate for a number of years to have a parent who was a chiropractor who would transport a portable table to competitions to help dancers with injuries and stresses. If you are a medical professional, your advice services could be put to good use.
LEGAL. Increasingly, band and choir parent organizations are incorporating — and part of that process involves legal services. Can you help? Bands make contractual commitments to drill designers, instructional and expert staff, choreographers, and more. Perhaps they are building sponsorship relationships with local business. You could help them saying the right words the right way.
FINANCIAL. Bands often have an individual participant financial requirement that can be met from everything from parental checks to profit from a multitude of fundraising projects. So, in addition to the general fund expenses, there are individual student accounts. On a major trip year, responsibilities are magnified as families make scheduled payments into an account, or where the band treasurer must coordinate with the travel company on all those individual accounts. If you can’t be the day-to-day person, perhaps you could help set up the spreadsheet or recommend the program to use — and offer financial or bookkeeping advice.
WHAT ELSE?
A marching band should be run like a business, but that is hard to do when most of those in the operation are untrained and unpaid. If you can help, please do.
Almost every year that I taught, I had variations of the same conversation, usually during a spring semester, when a normal realization from some talented, top quality, mature bandsters are sadly realizing that some of their friends and the ensemble’s leaders are (or will be) gone…. During their band lives, they had tended to ‘hang out’ with those in upper grades.
This is a call for NEW leaders to step up.
If this note is speaking to you it is a compliment. As you think back during your earlier years, there were upper-level students who accepted you into their friend circles, right? Those became strong and meaningful relationships and you gained from their experience and insight – and from their friends.
Some of those friends have graduated or will before you do, and that saddens you. They are moving on and you’ll miss them. You look at those in younger classes who maybe don’t (yet) show the qualities you admired in your older friends.
Now it is YOUR TURN to be the mature mentor for those younger, including incoming newbies. You know what it takes, better than they. So my question for you is, what are you going to do about it?
Perhaps you feel a little inadequate like you’re not as ‘good’ as your mentors. You know what I think? I think you ARE. As you step into the leadership role, you know what I think? I think you CAN.
If this note seems like I’m writing it specifically to you, then you probably have already been a “step it up” kinda person. That’s one of the reasons you’ve been comfortable around those older. Now it is YOUR TURN to step into major leadership; to replace those who are leaving and to set the tone for those coming in and for those who are already looking up to you. NOW IT IS YOUR TURN! YOU’RE READY. BE A LEADER. BE A MENTOR. BE A FRIEND….and we’ll all be the better for it, including YOU!
Love, Admiration & Respect,
Now, it is YOUR turn Read More »
By John Gardner
In my first summer of teaching, I was only 3-4 years older than the seniors in the band. Just before school started we spent a week at Camp Crescendo Band Camp. There were normally 6-10 bands in the camp any given week. Directors were responsible for ensuring all their students were in the proper dorms at the appointed time in the evening. When I would approach the girls’ dorm, they would tease me by calling me ‘dad’.
The ‘dad’ thing continued because they could tell it embarrassed me. It was not disrespectful, in fact, the opposite.
I was concerned that I’d get to school for the first week on the job on site and get called into the office because my students were calling me dad. But no, it seemed to be a “for band’s ears only” kind of thing.
This picture was taken at one of my first parades. With all the fun and games that we had, I do like to point out that they are all in step…..all….of….them.
Band Dad is in step – and so is the band Read More »
