AAA State Bound

So let me recap the week. No school on Monday due to a mistake in the district calendar. Great rehearsal on Tuesday. Good rehearsal on Thursday. Great rehearsal on Friday except for the one student who decided not to come to rehearsal or the game. It was also our middle school band night and that went pretty well. We had about 15 kids show up and even had a couple that asked to go with us to Lower State the next day. We also had a great run of the show on Friday night which is the first time that has happened for us. Skip forward to Saturday morning and the rain...we went into the stadium and rehearsed for an hour and a half in the rain and it was a great rehearsal. I did send that student home that missed rehearsal and the game the night before. We had a good run at the AAA Lower State Championships...it wasn't as good as the one that morning though. I had a good friend call me to wish us well and also to just give me a heads up about the stadium. It is kind of big and the sideline of the field is a good distance away from the stands. That type of stadium doesn't really favor a smaller group like us because it makes us look and sound even smaller. I told the kids about it beforehand and that they shouldn't let it affect their performance. We've also struggled visually all year in marching and with color guard. We've got a lot of new kids and some of them are just taking a little bit longer to get the hang of the whole marching band thing but I'm very proud of the progress they've made. We placed 6th in the AAA Lower State Championships and have qualified for the AAA State Championships this week. By the reaction of some of my kids though, you would have thought they were dead last. I've come into a program that has established a very strong tradition over the last 10 years, particularly in marching band. I've got some big shoes to fill and as much as I try not to let it show, the pressure/task is a little bit daunting. I do think that my younger kids were very excited but felt like they couldn't celebrate because the older kids were not very happy. I do not like that at all. For a program that is now on its 3rd band director in 3 years I would say that they did pretty damn good. I'm very proud of them and they have made it to the AAA State Championships. After this week, for one year they will be one of the top 12 bands in the state in class AAA. WAY TO GO SWANSEA TIGER BAND!!

Some Success

The band performed at the Garden City Classic yesterday and received Best Drum Major, Best Drumline, Superior Rating, 1st Place and Grand Champion of Division 1, A, and AA! I'm really proud of the kids and my staff and parents who work really hard! It was also really neat that their former band director who is at Dutch Fork now was also there and they did very well too. They were Grand Champions of class AAA and AAAA. He was my mentor/supervisor when I was student teaching and has since become a good friend who I look up to as well as someone whose opinion I value very much. He and his wife were very excited for us too. Our hard work is starting to pay off. We still have a lot to do but I feel like things are starting to come together and the kids are starting to realize what it is going to take in order to be successful. Way to go Swansea Tiger Band!

Cold Rain

Thursday in my opinion is one of the most important practices of the week. I checked the weather as school let out and it called for rain about an hour into our practice so I told the percussion to stay inside. We don't have a battery this year. We were outside and it started to rain and I had warned the kids earlier in the week to prepare for that because we lost an outside practice on Monday because of rain. But the rain started to come down harder and it was cold so we went inside to work on the homecoming music while it let up. We got back outside after about 20 minutes and as soon as we started to run the show it started to rain again. It was not as hard as before so we stayed outside and it stopped after about 10 minutes. We really needed the outside time to try and clean some more of the show.
I've also had a problem as of late with a couple of students that will miss practice without a valid excuse or without even coming to talk with me when I see them the next day. Attendance at rehearsals and performances is mandatory and it affects their grade when they miss one. For some that doesn't seem to sink in to well.
I've also had a recent rumbling from a parent about band letters and bars. There are some students at the high school who have bars and letters and are no longer in the program. I don't think this is fair to those kids that do stick it out until they graduate. So since I am the director now I made a change to that policy. They can still buy their band jacket during their sophomore year but they will receive a bar for every marching season they complete once it is done. They will get their band letter their senior year as long as they have at least marched two years with the program. The reason I do it that way is because someone who is in color guard could conceivably just march their senior year and get a bar and a letter. I think this is fair and my door is always open if a parent needs to come and discuss a concern with me.

Rain Rain Go Away

Last week was a pretty good week of rehearsals. We actually finished setting the show on the old asphalt field where the portables are located now. Our grass field was covered in water in certain places. It's rough being behind all season, which we were because of when I was hired. I also felt like we shouldn't try and rush things and I think that has paid off in our favor. The kids have retained the drill and we actually cleaned a little while we were learning it, if that makes sense. Tuesday and Thursday we really started to clean and get picky and things are really improving. Hopefull at the contest this weekend we will do better when it comes to marching and still continue to improve in our music. They are calling for rain most of this week and we were inside yesterday because of the rain but we had great music sectionals. The 2nd trumpets are starting to become trumpet players. They are all young. One is a freshman and the other two are eighth graders but I couldn't ask for a better group. They are only going to get better from here on out.

And the beat goes on...

So our first two contests are done. We were 2nd at the Irmo contest and it got rained out right before the last three bands performed. It was also very interesting having the train come through during the middle of our show. It was not a bad showing but we were plagued by injuries and sickness just like a lot of other groups. We worked hard during our week off and it paid off. We had a much better run of the show and I was quite pleased with our progress. My seniors were not though...because we didn't place. It was the first time in probably their entire high school marching band career that they had not placed at a contest. I told them all week that it was going to be a tough contest, especially with 6 other bands in our class. I originally registered us for a smaller class based on our hornline but to balance things out we were moved up. I had the option to stay in our original class and we probably could have won it but I passed on that option...honestly I wanted to see what we were made of. Musically we did pretty well, we were 2nd in our class and 6th overall for the day. Not too shabby, but visually we were last. We have quite a few individual marching problems that we need to get fixed if we want to improve even more. I think we can do it...we just have to put in the hard work!!

Saturday's coming

So the exhibition went as well as an exhibition would, especially after 6 hours of practice. So far we have had 2 good practices this week and are planning to have another one on Thursday. I feel like we are starting to find our groove as far as making our practices productive. If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now...my staff at Newberry was great. Kevin, Dianne, and Heather were awesome and we've become close friends after working together those 4 years. My staff at Swansea is pretty fantastic too and I'm really enjoying working there. We've got some things to iron out and we still have a little ways to go on the show but if we keep going like this we can make this a successful season. Also my moment of the day...I've commented the past few practices about one of my freshman trumpet players and how she knows her music and plays well but we just need to work on her tone a little. She came up to me at the end of class today and asked what she could do in order to be a better player and have a better tone. That's one of those rare moments and I just had to share.

Friday Night Lights...

So this has been a long week and I'm very tired. But I also feel like this has been a very productive week of practices and hopefully we will be able to end the week on a good note. I just got in from the home football game and after I finish this blog I'll get a chance to finally eat dinner. I'll have to get back up at 6am so that I can be ready for our 8am-3pm practice and community exhibition tomorrow night. Needless to say it has been a long day. I've got to make some changes for our football games so that we can have better crowd control and so that we can just look better as a band while in the stands. Swansea is just a little bit different than what I'm used to. This is my 8th year of teaching and I've never really had a problem with couples in the band but...let me just say its not just my kids, it's a problem throughout the school. It's like some of these kids have never dated anyone before. I've never seen such displays of PDA...again it's not really with my kids, other than holding hands but still. Anyway, I will say that for this being only our second time on the football field it was a pretty decent run...from field level. I have no idea what the drill looked like from up top. Tomorrow we'll work our asses off to make some progress with our closer drill and to clean in the opener and ballad. I will say that I was disappointed that some of the kids had not memorized the closer already. It is just a lack of effort and practice on their part.

Band Director Meeting

So today was our SCBDA fall meeting. This year I'm on the all-state committee. Some band directors think these meetings are a hassle but for me its kind of a time to connect/network with other directors and also to see some friends that I really only get to see at these meetings. I'm also always looking for new ideas and teaching strategies. I've been a bit worried about where we are with our show because we got a little bit of a late start because of when I got the job at Swansea. We still have not put our closer on the field but at the meeting I talked with a few other directors and a lot of them are also in the same boat so I feel a little bit better about where we are with our show. The fall meeting is also the time that the drawing is done for the upper and lower state lineup. This year we were picked to go next to last in our class. This could potentially be a great spot to march in as long as we are on top of our game. Monday the work continues.

Moving

So today was a pretty good day. We are making strides with the music but there is still one class that is way behind and they are getting further behind because they aren't practicing. It's going to be hard to do well in my class if you aren't practicing. I've got a number of kids that are sick but they are sticking it out for the most part...except those with the flu. I've also encountered a problem that I haven't had before since I taught in Sumter. When I was there I would lose kids sometimes because I got all the air force kids. But in Swansea I don't know what the deal is. I've got 2 kids right now that may be moving within a couple of weeks. They don't know when or even if it is going to happen though. We have to keep doing what we are doing because we've got a show to finish. I feel like we are still a little behind but there is some method to our madness.

A Case Of The Monday's...On Tuesday!!

So the title pretty much says it all. That's what one of my seniors said during our water break today and he was right. The kids were kind of dragging and there was no energy to anything that we did. I still have some kids who don't eat right and I do have some that are sick but we've got to do better. I also had some that I had to go get from another practice. I agreed to let them participate in the step team along with marching band on the condition that they were at our rehearsal by 4:45pm. I feel like that is very reasonable. Today they tested me and were not even there by 5:15 so I went and got them. I did it the right way though and I will be pulling them aside to discuss the situation further so that they know what is expected of them. Today was just a LONG day with a lot of stuff going on. I feel a little unorganized and I think its all because of the late start we got with me coming into the job. Things should run a lot smoother next year. We still have to play better. Period.

I think I can, I think I can

So we made some progress last week with the drill and also with guard routine. Things are getting better we just need to work a little faster. Some of our younger players still need some help playing wise. The parents seem to be excited about the community show in a couple of weeks. We're actually going to have a mini camp to get caught up and then do the show that night in full uniform...assuming I can get the uniforms out in time. That is my next big project because we lost an assistant band director this year because of budget cuts and she usually handled that. It will get done though.

Work Harder & Wiser

So today the weather was pretty nice. I pushed the kids pretty hard today. We had a couple that got a little sick and those are the ones that either didn't eat lunch all day or only ate a sandwich. That is not going to cut it for the kind of energy that we use up. They just don't seem to understand that. We got a lot more done today and the opener is starting to look pretty good. The ballad is on its way too. We've got a long way to go on the closer though. The first contest is quickly approaching...

Rainy Days

So it started pouring once school got out. I had to find rooms for us to do sectionals and got that done but I had no place for the guard so I sent them home. If only I had waited...it stopped raining once it was time for practice but did start up for a little bit once we got out. We put on the ponchos and went out. Some of the younger kids groaned but the a couple of the older kids said exactly what I was thinking...WE NEED TO PRACTICE!! The younger kids don't quite get it yet. They don't understand that if you want to be the best and be successful then you have to work for it. No one is going to give it to you. I'm not saying that we are going to be the best but we are sure as hell going to try. We're going to strive to be the best everytime we step on the field...whether it is in practice, football game, or competition. I feel like we had a pretty good practice...we got bogged down once but we figured everything out. Hopefully we can make tomorrow even more productive. We still have to get our younger players playing better.

Blog Therapy

So here I am doing a blog. I actually got the idea for this from a good friend/mentor who also does his own blog. This is going to be a place for me to vent, share ideas, throw out my random thoughts, etc. But be warned, these are my opinions and my thoughts so if you don't like them...then don't read my blog. This will mostly be about my job/life as a band director but there may be some other stuff thrown in there sometimes. I just started as the new director at Swansea H.S. and so far I am really enjoying my job. It's a very different atmosphere and mentality from where I used to work. It's not one of those situations where I would say "the grass is always greener" (Carolina Crown :-) because its a different school, different kids, different staff, different parents, etc. but like I said I am enjoying teaching there. We have a very young group this year (about 75% is 8th - 10th) and I think that is going to be a little hard for some of the older kids to get used to. It doesn't mean that I won't work them just as hard but they do have some limits. I will see how far they can go though. Well I'm off to find some medicine. Caught a cold a couple of days ago...but this is no time to take off from work.