2kidsindrumcorpsnomoney4me

I was a member of our booster organization for several years, and we raised about $170,000 every year to support the music program. The only thing the district provided was space and directors (2 directors and a half time director) salaries. During marching season, we paid about $8k to design the drill plus an hourly rate for the drill writer to attend week day evening and Saturday rehearsals, $12k to colorguard drill designer for marching band and winter guard. She/He was not in attendance at all rehearsals. We then paid hourly rates to percussion techs, at least three visual techs, two guard techs, and individual instrument instructors. Parent volunteers did everything else. The salary portion of our budget alone took up half of what we raised every year. I do know that our drill designer and color guard designer were working with at least three other high schools in our area on top of other jobs.

My son knows several people who have auditioned for Phantom, and based upon what I have learned from him, dance ability is as important or more important than weapons there. My daughter was in the same situation you are describing - senior year, AP exams, etc., but the SCV move in camp started May 23rd. She did not graduate until June 12th. Her HS allowed her to take all of her finals and present her senior project early to move in with SCV on time. There are options, but you will need to work with your HS counselor and teachers to make it happen. We started in January, and still had "last minute paper work" appear in her final week of school. Good luck!

Apparently they get to use the horns at no cost as long as they don't march with them...

Trust me...I'm a scientist! (and I won't get into the climate change discussion!) 1) The kids don't wash their hands enough. This is most commonly how illness are spread. 2) There needs to be a daily (not weekly) bleaching of the water jugs. Kids drink straight from the spouts of their water jugs, putting the bacteria from their mouths on the spout. Then later, Janey asks Johnny to hand her the water jug. Johnny touches the spout as he hands it over - if it hasn't been bleached in 3 or 4 days, there are a s**t ton of bacteria on there. Combine this with #1, Johnny might get "the bug" 3) lack of sleep lowers resistance. I see the same thing with my college students at finals time. 1+2+3 combined with the perpetual close quarters, and it runs through the whole corps. One of my kids is in a corps that does not allow water jugs, and as far as I know, there have been no epidemics through the corps. Not really sustainable, but you can't argue if it works!

We go to all three Prelims - you can be selective. Go the corps you want to see. You can take a break, go out to lunch or dinner, come back later for more shows quite easily. Semis - Again, some flexibility but the top 15 - 18 are a must see, especially with as close as some of the middle of the pack corps are this year. Finals - The shows of the top 12 are always top notch. Whether you love them or hate them, the shows the kids put on in August are as good as you are going to see anywhere. For the most part, we spend the mornings at rehearsal sites then head to LOS for the shows. All drum corps all the time while we are there!

Just gonna throw fuel on the fire...Vanguard passed Crown tonight...yeah, I know different panels etc. San Antonio is going to be fun.

OK, this may be a dumb question, but how often does is there a two point difference between judges in GE? The 17.6 for BK from GE2 is on par with BD's score tonight. Nothing against BK, I like their show, but that big of difference seems pretty large to me.

No, they are fine. Just a couple of nagging injuries. All four cymbal players were at the Riverside show.

And it is a holiday weekend...

For me, the biggest positive surprise is the quality being put out by The Academy, Mandarins, and Pacific Crest. Based on what they have put out in previous years, I thought they were a bit underscored in Southern California. They won't make finals, but their race to see who finishes up top will be really fun to watch.

1 Santa Clara Vanguard 81.900 2 Blue Knights 76.100 3 Crossmen 71.500 4 Oregon Crusaders 68.200 5 Cascades 57.500 Open Class 1 Columbians 52.600 2 Eruption41.300

Disclaimer first - I have kids in Vanguard and the Cavaliers. Before people start discounting Vanguard, remember that they have gone head to head with BD twice last week and closed the gap to 2.9 points from something approaching 4 points at the beginning of the season. I think the top 6 - BD, Cadets, Bloo, Crown, SCV, and Cavies are in for an amazing contest through the season, and we get to enjoy it!

World Class 1 Santa Clara Vanguard 80.900 2 Blue Knights 72.000 3 Crossmen 68.400 4 Mandarins 63.500 Open Class 1Vanguard Cadets 56.300 2Blue Devils B 54.300 Top 6 all over 80...wheee

Oceanside 6/27 Riverside 6/29 Prelims, Semis, and Finals in Indy and whatever is on Fannetwork

To get back to the original poster's question, I guess it really depends on where you are within this activity. My kids ended with The Academy last summer, my daughter went straight to band camp. My son was teching with two local high school marching bands. Their seasons went all the way to the weekend before Thanksgiving. From that point on it has been auditions with two different corps that are not local, my son's winter guard and still teching the two high school guards, and my daughter going to call backs and weekend camps every month with weekly assignments on SmartMusic. Our house has been non-stop marching arts since August! My wife and are are looking forward to the peace and quiet for a month when move ins start on May 23rd, then we will be back at it with our first show in Oceanside! A month away from drum corps will be a nice break!

I "knew" about Drum Corps in high school. Our guard captain marched with Phantom. A friend of mine played drums with the Imperials, and he talked me into marching the St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago (my Mom was NOT happy). That was the extent of my drum corps experience. Fast forward to 2011, my son marched with the color guard with Gold. In 2012 he was in the guard with The Academy. In 2013, my daughter (trumpet) joined him there. This year, my son is marching with The Cavies and my daughter is marching with SCV. It is a family affair, but I am more of a fan!

I predict that my son marching with The Cavaliers and my daughter marching with SCV are going to have life changing summers.

Nice jump by The Academy since Allentown! Over 4 points!

Hope I can help. I am a professor at the University of San Diego and served as the Honors Program Director for several years. As part of that, I reviewed applications for incoming students. First, there are not as many students who have any significant music experience on their resume as you would think. Of the 400+ Honors applications I read every year, maybe 40 to 50 had significant music experience. This makes them stand out, especially if they do multiple ensembles for the entirety of their HS career. This generally goes into a "talent" rating that students get on a rating sheet. If you audition for and gain entry into a drum corps, you have to phrase it so that it doesn't sound like just another marching band. Instead of saying "Member, Blue Devils B", perhaps say something like Member, Blue Devils B, Open Class Silver Medalist and World Championship Semifinalist. That slight change in the way it is presented makes people stand up and take a closer look. For my kids who are both marching with The Academy this summer, I will have them say "auditioned for and gained entry into The Academy, a World Class Drum and Bugle Corps, World Championship Semi-finalist (and hopefully finalist!) 2013. One last thing to note, incoming college students are rated on test scores, GPA, and a high school rating (1-5). These three things create a "score" that students are rated with and then offered admission. All of the other things - music, sports, drum corps - only really become important for borderline students or for students who are competing for scholarships or entry into special programs like Honors Programs. If you are applying to a big 40,000 student state school...it may not even get noticed unless you are applying for direct admission to a music school. If you are applying to smaller liberal arts colleges, it will likely be more important. Hope that helps. Just a few things I have learned in working on the admissions side... Jim