dmarg

That's exactly what I've been saying in the last 5 billion posts. I don't have the understanding to provide ideas or answers, so if anyone could tell me what a corps should do in this situation, please tell me! I would love to know your opinions on what actions should take place, not your opinions about me being curious. I emailed dci, and they gave me no answers besides "talk to the corps director." I tried that, and that doesn't work either. What would make a corps stable and capable of holding staff members? Why did the academy turn out to be such a machine in the same amount of years as Jester? At this point I simply would like to know your opinions. I'm not trying to take down anybody. I just don't have anyone I personally know with drum corps knowledge that I could take this too. I thought you guys would be more receptive but I guess I was wrong. Sorry if I ofended anyone, but that was surely not my intention in bringing this up

and so as to not leave anything out, here's the original staff letter sent to all the members. Dear Students, It is with great sadness that we send this e-mail. Please understand that the issues stated here are in no way a reflection of your excellence. There are two significant areas of this organization that have driven us to end our affiliation with Jester Corps. It is important that you understand that it is because of your hard work and dedication that we have prolonged this extremely difficult decision. Our goal has always been to provide you with an opportunity for success and quality. We simply do not have enough members yet, and it is unfair to suggest that a student come in at this late date and be expected to perform at the high level you have already achieved over the last several months. We needed to have the minimum DCI numbers at the Memorial Day Camp in order to have the time necessary to work together and present a quality show that you could be proud of on June 21. The teaching staff does not think a quality show can be put on the field with so many new members joining at this late date. Each and every one of you is an amazing musician and performer, and you deserve to perform with others who have the same ideals for high quality. It is our understanding that the administration plans to continue the season regardless of the concerns of the teaching staff. An educational organization cannot be successful if the administration does not support the teaching staff. After several months of conversations it is clear that the Jester administration is either unable or unwilling to provide the necessary support on this and several other key issues. Promises continue to go unfulfilled and we have done all that we can to jump these hurdles and provide an appropriate and exciting learning environment. We are not comfortable with the operations of this organization and therefore cannot continue to remain involved. We can't stress enough that these issues do not reflect our feelings about you. You are all champions to us, and it has been extremely difficult to make this final decision. We are very sad that we have to leave our students. You each have a special place in our hearts, and we truly hope to see you in years to come. No matter what happens for the 2006 season, we will be with you in spirit, and sincerely wish you great success. It has been an honor to work with you. We will miss you greatly. Sincerely, Steve, Lara, and Aaron PS - Please contact us via email if you still have unanswered questions.

And i posted before I saw the post above me, and it's funny you should mention safety, because another thing the staff told me in an email was that they felt we could not tour safely, adding to the reasons they resigned. Here is one email sent by the staff Hi Margo. We know what a tricky position you are in as the leader of this group. In answer to your questions: We do not like the direction this organization is heading. We’ve seen it coming and have been trying to change things for months, but without success. Our requests and concerns have been overlooked and/or pushed aside. We are not comfortable with the administration of this group. We do not agree with the decisions that are made, for reasons that range from unhelpful to unsafe. As educators, we feel that we can no longer promote this organization, and that is why we have been driven to withdraw from this group. As professionals we cannot go into detail because that would not be appropriate, so you’ll need to trust us on this one. We are not telling you what decision to make for yourself regarding the remainder of this year. We have to do what we believe is best, and sadly this is the outcome. Let us reiterate from before…we love you kids and we believe in you! You are NOT the reason we are leaving; in fact you are all the reasons we’ve stayed and fought for so long. We can no longer be part of this organization because we are not willing to lower our personal standards to work for an administration that does not support us, but we DO admire you all, and we hope to have opportunities to work with you in the future. Please continue to keep communicating with us. We can still be here for you, even from afar! Sincerely, Steve, Lara, and Aaron And I'm sure it's easy to dismiss my opinion, and ktowns opinion since we are no longer part of the activity, but deciding to believe everything otherktown says isn't safe either. That's not the point here though. The only reason I've said anything is to make the dci public forum aware of things happening in arizona, good or bad, and now I have to leave it up to them to do whatever it is they do, which seems to be not much. I have contacted dci, but I've gotten the runaround a few to many times. I've just about given up the good fight. And it's not like I have anything to gain from any of this, so that's not why I came on here. I fight for the rights of people, that's what I do, and I felt as though I was obligated to share this, since I felt there have been many wrong doings against kids of arizona. Let me say one more time that I support the Jester memebers completely, and am glad that they could go out and show everyone they're still here. I wish I lived in Phoenix, and didn't need half a day of transportation because that would have made the whole thing very different for me. I'm done

I agree, but how was that productive? They rock, but they shouldn't have to go through all the crap they do. Don't you want to help at all? And Jester does rock, more than you know since you won't acknowledge the stuff they've had to go through year after year.

I'm not saying anything bad about the Jester kids. I'm actually very jealous that they were able to participate this summer. I only came on here to let people know about the situation, and thought that since you care about the activety, you would try somehow to help these kids. I was physically unable to participate in Jester because I was dependent on the fact that I could carpool with the other kids from my city. Due to the unstability of the corps, and the issues the staff had with the management, this was not possible. I love drum corps as much as anyone else, and would have given up a lot to march this summer, but I COULD NOT. I am simply saying that the students should not be able to commit until it has been truthfully, and plainly laid out in front of them. I can't understand why no one cares about this. I'm begging you to look into the situation and see if you can't find some way to help. Maybe you know someone who would be willing to be a part of a stable Jester staff. Maybe you know something about recruiting, I don't know. All I know is that there are a lot more than a few kids who have been disgruntled by this organization, and it is breaking my heart to watch them all get overlooked because the vets of the drum corps activety are too busy talking about the 1980 bridgeman drum line to see what's happening to the future of the activety. Because Jester has made such an infamous name for itself, be it deserved or not, many young Arizona musicians only allow themselves one option, The Academy, which is extremely competitive, and is not a reality if you don't have much experience. I am not a spoiled infant, a am a concerned human being who is not only trying to help this activety, but pleading for people with more experience to help. Maybe I'm just a huge ###### who knows nothing about this whole thing, but to me it certainly seems that if Jester is ever going to have a year without drama, they need people to step in and help. I'm sorry I can't be more constructive. I'm a 17 year old girl that is trying to change things for the better, but if I'm in the wrong I'll gladly shut my mouth. I just feel bad for the kids that have been discouraged because of all this. Maybe a petition would help you understand. Oh and about sean cunningham, how were we supposed to know? he was our high school percussion instructor and had helped us progress infinitely over the course of one season. I had no reason not to trust him. I actually disliked him a lot at first, but he grew on me. He even got me my first job at the Flying J. But really, how was I supposed to know?

It's funny because I'm not entirely sure which side I'm on. I was actually set to be the drum major for Jester this season, but after the every caption head resigned, the kids I was carpooling with (4 1/2 hours to get there) quit immediatly. From the get go Steve Martin was the only reason they had even stayed. The first camp included 6 kids from my high school, 2 kids from a school 1 1/2 hours from the site, and 1 Phoenix kid. Needless to say, we were demoralized. You have to understand that none of us had any drum corps experience WHATSOEVER, and that we were prosimeda trip to Madison that summer. There were no returning members, but we were told there would lots more kids coming for the next camps. I was unable to attend due to All-State Jazz tryouts and the like, but my best friend (who continued to go to every camp) told me there was still no sign of more people. Finally after one camp when a few returning members attended, I was able to go back to the corps as the only gaurd member. At the memorial day camp, I was asked to be Jester's Drum Major, and I accepted. I had previous experience so it wasn't to big of a stretch for me, and I was much more comfortable with that then gaurd. I learned how to conduct the show over the weekend, and started on my different duties, and was extraordinarily excited that it was all finally happening. We had I think 23 kids at that camp, and everyone was excited recruit more. The next week though, we were scheduled to play a show at the Phoenix Mercury game on a Tuesday, and we finally had aranged a way for the 5 of us to get there. You can imagine that it isn't easy to pay for 8 hour car trips when you're a poor teenager. The day or two before though we were emailed by the staff letting us know that they wouldn't be coming back, and that they wouldn't specify why as to keep their level of professionalism. As I said before, right off the bat 2 of the kingman kids were out, and that left 3 of us to car pool. One was already on his way to move in down in Phoenix, so he couldn't car pool either, and that left 2. There was no way I could afford that after the 850 dollars for tour fees, plus a $150 member fee and $25 dollars for every camp (totaling $125). The corps director at this point seemed to be frantic about losing another 6 kids, so he offered to pick me up (4 1/2 hours away) and drive me down to Phoenix. My parents were not about to let me drive with a man they did not know, and told me they wanted me to thros in the towel. They had been weary of Jester's unorganization since day one. I made the extremely hard decision to quit since there was no feasible way for me to continue. I was extrememyl upset, and still wish I could have at least done a part of the tour with them, but it was impossible. I got no money back, and still have not heard back from the corps director as to where it is. Since drum corps are non-profit organizations, I thought that any money they couldn't spend couldn't be used as a profit but I guess I was wrong. Turns out my mom can write it off on her taxes as a donation, but the other 5 kids aren't so lucky. They together paid a total ranging somewhere between $5000 and $8000 depending on how you total it with all the fees. None of us stepped foot on a field, and none of us got the expereince we were promised. As I have talked to many veterans on Jester Corps and newbies from this year, it is apparent to me that even if they do believe that they are gained a worthwhile experience and education, they deserve much better. They deserve a corps director who doesn't wait until a week before to finalize a Tuesday performance, or sneak camps on to the scheduale and then claim they'd been there all along (c'mon, they were written in on a typed piece of paper). I don't know if they really are gaining from their time with Jester, or if they simply do not know better, but teh management should, and should not promise kids a trip to madison, and an awesome summer, and a staff that actually sticks around for more than a few months when none of it will happen. I may not be experienced in the mat ters of drum corps, but I know what's right and what's wrong, and what the higher ups of Jester are doing is wrong. I'm planning on trying out for a corps that has their poop in a group next year, and I definitely learned my lesson. PS If you think the whole $850 dollar tour fee in february and $1650 tour fee in May thing is screwed up, one year they let kids march for free as long as they promised to march Jester again the next summer.