1. Family
Band provides another environment and family
atmosphere for band members to lean on.
There will be ups and downs as
with any family, but band provides its members with a unique habitat of
students that will support them both during good times and bad. For our
underclassmen, there are many upperclassmen to learn from who have been through
what they will experience. For our upperclassmen, they will learn to develop
leadership skills and give back to others in the way someone gave to them.
2. Camaraderie in the joy of
music making
While the
band members and staff do work hard, we also enjoy one another's
company on a daily
basis making great music and enjoying sharing our musical gifts with others
.
Our primary goal as musicians is to entertain and
share great music with our parents, alumni, and community. Whether it is
playing stand tunes at the football game to fire the team and the crowd up,
performing our unique and high energy competitive show at half time or
contests, jamming out with our jazz bands or percussion ensembles, lightening
the mood of the season through pops music on a concert, or sharing passionate
and sophisticated literature through our concert bands, there is no end to the
wonderful music that we enjoy with one another. We strive to perform at the
highest level but of course, there is great joy in doing what we do.
3. Self Confidence
Band affords its members to benefit enormously from
participating on a team that breeds excellence.
All 260 of the students are a
part of the greater whole. We experience success and failure together, we learn
how to handle ups and downs together, and most importantly your band member can
take pride in knowing that they contributed to something greater then him or
herself, and can take ownership in the group. Band also provides our members
with a model of excellence that can boost their confidence in their own
abilities in other classes or activities. Band members will learn that they
really can accomplish goals with a clear plan and a high level of discipline,
and will be able to tackle other projects outside of band with direction and
purpose.
4. Commitment
Band teaches the ability to practice and
learn follow through.
“
Doing what I say I will do when I say I will do it.
”
Band members learn by committing to a practice
schedule, accepting responsibility to complete a task, and making a promise to
their team mates to see a task through to its conclusion. Participation in a
team sport, and sticking it out when it isn’t always fun or the rewards aren’t always tangible in the moment is a lesson that
benefits band members far beyond the music classroom.
5. Conflict Resolution
With approximately 260 members on the team, conflicts are bound
to happen. Band members will face conflict in their lives within their families,
with friends, and will also have to learn how to deal and work with people they
just plain don’
t like.
Learning to work through these challenges is a unique opportunity posed through
participating in a large team sport. Band members will not just
“learn concepts”
of
conflict resolution, but will practice them through the course of their season.
They will gain valuable coping skills both in learning how to
“blow off steam”
productively
and also in how to resolve disputes as they arise.
6. Giving up video games
For many, video games are fun. They develop hand
eye coordination, and are a great stress release. Unfortunately, they can also
become a detriment to productivity.
Facebook, social media, television,
and other activities are often more fun than the
“
to-do
”
list, and band will help its members learn the importance of giving up
unnecessary distractions and prioritizing.
7. Life is not fair or always fun
Despite
our best efforts, sometimes life isn
’
t fair and it most definitely isn't
always fun. Learning
how to handle disappointments as well as develop systems for dealing with
disappointment is an important part of being in band.
We won
’t win every competition, band
members won’t win
every chair test, and sometimes they will do everything to the best of their
abilities ... and things still won
’
t go their way. Learning how to bounce back from these
disappointments will benefit them long beyond their time wearing a band
uniform.
8. There is always a faster gun
No matter how good you are, there is almost
always a "
faster gun
”.
There is almost always someone better. In the
competitive world we live in, many strive to be at the top. Learning how to
handle the fact that you will not win every competition, and you will not
always be the best is an important skill.
Whether it is through competition in marching band,
chair tests, the region process, band enables your band member to learn that
striving for personal excellence is a far more important goal than
“being first place.”
While it is always great fun to win or see our names
at the top ... an equal amount can be gained through simply achieving personal
goals, and we needn’t be
discouraged or feel as though the only priority is to be the best. And learning
how to handle when we aren
’
t always on top teaches that the world will not end if
we do not win, or if we aren’t number one in our class. We can celebrate others
accomplishments when they are doing well as we would want others to celebrate
with us as we achieve goals.
9. Instant Gratification or
Shortcut Patience
There
is no shortcut to excellence at playing a sport or an instrument, or achieving
high marks in the classroom.
Each requires diligent study, focused
practice and a high level of commitment, as well as patience. Band members will
learn the level of dedication required to achieve excellence in any one skill.
Music provides a wonderful outlet for this as it is something than can provide
a great deal of enjoyment at all levels and can take the edge off the pursuit
of excellence. However, the pursuit of excellence often comes with bumps in the
road, and demands perseverance and patience. Farming, hunting, sports,
sculpting, crafts, and music all can provide outlets for students to develop
patience. In their jobs and pursuits some day,
“slow
and steady wins the race”
will benefit them enormously
over those who give up long before your band member will.
10. Workforce
The real world expects its employees to show up on
time. It expects a level of discipline and follow through, and it expects that
if an employee gets paid to do a job, they will do it. There are bosses,
co-workers, data reports, and plenty of detractors. Employees who perform at a
high level are promoted, those who do not perform well are demoted, and those
who do not follow the rules or become complacent are replaced. Band is truly a
“miniature playground for the real world”
and places real world expectations on its students
that build character, and teach independence. While some students are
“intrinsically motivated,”
others benefit greatly from the structure and
discipline band provides.
11.
Balancing Act
It often seems like our band members who are
involved in the most activities, AP classes, and top bands are also the kids
who achieving the highest grades. Of course, high school will be different for
each and every student.
Ultimately, learning how to balance the many
requirements of school and band is no different than learning to balance a job,
mortgage payments, taking the kids to activities, building in vacation or
family time, and other skills that adults face in their lives.
While
they are
“just teenagers,” learning
to balance on their own will prepare them as they head off to college. College
requires a high level of independence, and many college students either fail
out after their first semester, or burn out under the stress of work. Band will
provide students with tools to help overcome these stresses, and ensure they
learn how much is possible in a day, and how to manage their time efficiently.
12.
Rewards
A great sense of joy and satisfaction comes
from achieving goals either as an individual or as a team.
Band members
will be able to celebrate their victories at all levels. Whether it is simply
overcoming the hurdle of checking off a single measure of music, achieving a
personal victory they did not believe was ever possible, or learning the
exuberance and exhilaration that comes from a team winning an event together.
Sometimes, the greatest rewards
are those that come from gaining strength through failure or realizing that the
sun will indeed come up tomorrow, and you get a fresh chance with each time you
start over at something. These rewards become even sweeter the older our
students get, and they learn how to truly cherish the rewards of hard work heading
into college and the real world.