Module 4 Reflection Post: Informing People about Music Education

There are many ways that I can make the value of music education better known in my community. This is my third year in the position of sole band director for grades 5^th through 12^th in a small suburb of St. Louis. Although the school district is small, the band program is very small and the high school enrollment is currently only 7% of the total school enrollment. While that is slightly increased since I was hired, there is still a long way to go. The current beginning band class (6^th grade) is at 33% enrollment. Below I will detail a few of the strategies that helped get so many 6^th grade students involved as well as ideas for strategies that I could implement to further demonstrate the importance of school music programs to the community. It’s worth noting that the biggest struggle the band program faces in my district is the ability to get students involved initially. All middle school students (6^th, 7^th, and 8^th) are allowed one “elective” section. Meaning that students who choose to take band throughout middle school do not get to experience any other classes outside of the cores (math, science, reading, English Language Arts, and social studies).  For the students that do stick with band (or choir) throughout middle school they face a tough decision in high school as they are encouraged to take honors courses that conflict with band and choir.

Recruiting efforts – It became very clear to me after the first year that if I didn’t start students in beginning band that I was likely never going to have them in the band program. I met with the elementary principal and we devised a plan to have “5^th grade instrumental music” as part of their specials rotation. I see all of the 5^th graders once a week and we explore the instrument families. I have gotten better at teaching this class and last year was able to incorporate many 5^th graders into the spring band concert. This was a great opportunity for me to speak to the 5^th grade parents about the important of music, for them to see what the high school band had to offer, and also allowed me to send them home with valuable information about the importance of music. Part of the materials I supplied included a website that I built specifically for recruiting. I must admit that I use the “academic card” as a reason to join the band program on these materials. I am not proud of this because I believe that music should stand alone and should not be defended based on what it does for other content areas; however at this point in the building process I am going to continue to include the academic benefits in the materials I supply to parents.

Join VP Band website 

Marching band as a face in the community - Another strategy that I used to show the community the importance of music was the reestablishment of the marching band program. Marching uniforms were purchased nearly 20 years prior to my hiring, but they were barely used. I wanted the high school band to have a face in the community, even if that was just playing a pep tune in the local parade. The events that we play have grown from the community parades to community luncheons and other events at City Hall. Many people have approached me with comments such as “I didn’t even know VPHS had a band.” Through the process of reestablishing the marching band I’ve (unsuccessfully) applied for grants and some of the materials that I have put together for the applications have been displayed at school board meetings. Video for grant 

Proposal for schedule changes – While working towards convening the school board and community that band is important, I have also had many meetings with administrators and other “elective” teachers to work towards a better schedule that would allow more course opportunities for our students. I have presented the data to show how we are the only school district in our county that limits our middle school students to one elective, but have been unable to convince the middle school administration that our students deserve more choices. I plan to continue to have meetings. Link to data presentation

Fun band activities – Over the last few years I have worked to take the high school band to contest as well as on larger performance and festival trips. Also, with the addition of the marching program we now go to marching competitions at held on college campuses and perform at the football games. Lastly, I created an after school jazz program that will compete for the first time this year. The addition of opportunities to perform has definitely increased student quantity as well as quality. The program is beginning to feel more like a typical band program.

Convincing the school community and residential community that band is valuable has been a struggle so far, but I feel that we are gaining traction and I will continue to work towards a valued band program. Several other strategies that I plan to implement include alumni band events in which former students come back and play with the current band, a mentor program were upperclassmen encourage younger band students to excel in the band program, and (hopefully) a successful attempt to starting a band boosters organization. I believe if we have a program that feels welcoming with a “family” feel to it, then we will grow and the more we grow the more voices we will have supporting us in the community.