Open Class when the Economy Recovers

[txorchdork013]

Actually, I didn't mean to call the fine, upstanding legislators in this state as imbeciles. I couldn't find my copy of Roget's Thesaurus ..... where did it go .....

Oh, here it is! Let's see, hmmm, here's some of the words that I wanted to use: knuckleheads, nincompoops, brain-doners, chowder heads, ultra-maroons, dunderheads...... Well, that's all for now.

ROFLMAO

OK, seriously. Music education is clearly not the top priority for this legislature. Their actions speak louder than words. Two years ago, they implemented a rule requiring 4 years of math and science, for any high school student to graduate. Sounds good, right? Not until you consider the consequences: many students had to drop out of music classes, in order to complete the requirement. Many music educators fought tooth and nail, to prevent this rule from going into effect, to no avail.

At a minimum, the legislature should have implemented a similar rule, requiring more fine arts requirements, in the curriculum. Did that happen? Of course not. Nor did they increase funding or teacher counts.

Actually they tried to kill the fine arts credit for graduation, but luckily we were able to keep that from happening. And scheduling the classes are a nightmare. Back in the day, the schedule would be built around atheletics and music because many of the teachers were itinerant. Now we are the last to get scheduled. I get kids of all playing levels in the same class. Try to explain to an administrator that sticking a beginners in with a kids who have been playing three years is like sticking a kid in a trig class before they have taken Algebra I. But, I won't complain too much because I want those kids and love my program, so I make do. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to go into work without some of the battles you have to fight to keep your program viable in a school (and it's not the kids).

Many wealthy school district did respond, by increasing the number of music education teachers, and the corresponding funding. I happen to live in such a district, so I consider myself fortunate. (Of course, the fees to belong to a band/orchestra/chorus program can still be outrageous. At my son's school, the fees for marching season alone are $600 per head.)

I was lucky, my daughter's "band enrichment fee" only went up $50 last year.

You schools are lucky. I teach in far west Texas where most of the schools are completely Title I. The majority of elementary schools have no music programs whatsoever. Many middle schools only offer band. Then the high schools have to start basically from scratch. Yet, many of the districts are UIL and expect the music programs to be highly competitive. If you are middle or high school band, orchestra or choir teacher and your group(s) don't do well at All-Region auditions, or don't score well at solo-ensemble or UIL competitions, that teacher could be looking for another job.

In my district, middle school band, orchestra and choir get no funding so we have to fundraise. But since Texas has some new strict rules on nutrician in schools, bakesales are very limited and candy sales are non-existant. Of course with Texas being in drought conditions since I was ten, car washes are not allowed in my part of the state due to water rationing.

I am lucky that my principal allows me to get some of my necessary materials from general school funds, but only bare necessities...

And the rationale is "football brings in cash with ticket sales and consession sales. Orchestras don't have that same fiscal impact. That is why music programs get cut first.

And now in California...music is being cut so fast it is like a metronome gone wild. I saw on the news tonight, a group of elementary kids creating a musical to protest the cuts (their musical theatre program is also cut as of the 2009-2010 school year). They showed a couple of excerpts and it was too cool....

In my opinion, the same set of issues that plague our school music programs infect DCI Open Corps. High expectations yet no active support. No music programs in schools, no young musicians to recruit for these corps. Open Corps don't have the same attendance as World Class Corps, less ticket sales...a repetitive cycle. Then we throw in one more monkey wrench, bad management of funds and a few bad seasons so that recruitment is low...and then farewell to that corps.

Edited July 29, 2009 by txorchdork013

[kusankusho]

We actually had that - it was called Division III. It was crushed, when DCI combined Division III and II into World Class.

Other than the spiffy new name (Open Class is more impressive than Div III) I never saw the benefit of the merge to smaller corps, and I could see some harm.

[oldschooldbc]

ROFLMAO

I was lucky, my daughter's "band enrichment fee" only went up $50 last year.

You schools are lucky. I teach in far west Texas where most of the schools are completely Title I. The majority of elementary schools have no music programs whatsoever. Many middle schools only offer band. Then the high schools have to start basically from scratch. Yet, many of the districts are UIL and expect the music programs to be highly competitive. If you are middle or high school band, orchestra or choir teacher and your group(s) don't do well at All-Region auditions, or don't score well at solo-ensemble or UIL competitions, that teacher could be looking for another job.

In effect, we are seeing the same dichotomy in HS music education, that we are now seeing in drum corps. If anything, the disparity is becoming even more severe at the HS level. You have elite school from wealthy districts with top-notch, well-funded programs. Then you have programs that are badly financed and under-resourced, and they can't possbly compete. Here's an allegorical example:

A couple of years ago, our school district actually (in the Houston area) held a fundraiser for music programs in West Texas. One of the directors in the district had judged a show in El Paso, and gave at least one of the bands there a 5, the lowest possible score. (That is the equivalent of giving a DBC a score of 20.0 overall.) This West Texas school clearly had under-funded its music program: its instruments, uniforms, equipment, and everything else, was old or non-functional.

The kids from that school were being judged on the system and level as other UIL schools, including national-championship contenders, like the L.D. Bell and The Woodlands. Obviously, the kids from that West Texas school were just being crushed. And it was completely unfair and humiliating.

The director was so embarrassed to turn in the 5 score, that he decided to do something about it. So the following season, he convinced his own district to convert its band contest into a fundraiser. All the funds raised went to school in WestTex that earned a 5. They turned over a check for several thousand dollars to that school's director, no strings attached. The recipient used the funds to go out and buy some new instruments - which they hadn't done in years.

Now that's class. I hope our district has similar fundraisers in the future.

==================================================

Will we see this type of charity, magnaminity, and goodwill, in DBC? Will some of the WC corps begin holding fundraisers for OC outfits in trouble? Would a WC host a show, to raise funds for a struggling OC in the same town or state?

Dream on! I will believe it, when I see it.

[txorchdork013]

In effect, we are seeing the same dichotomy in HS music education, that we are now seeing in drum corps. If anything, the disparity is becoming even more severe at the HS level. You have elite school from wealthy districts with top-notch, well-funded programs. Then you have programs that are badly financed and under-resourced, and they can't possbly compete. Here's an allegorical example:

A couple of years ago, our school district actually (in the Houston area) held a fundraiser for music programs in West Texas. One of the directors in the district had judged a show in El Paso, and gave at least one of the bands there a 5, the lowest possible score. (That is the equivalent of giving a DBC a score of 20.0 overall.) This West Texas school clearly had under-funded its music program: its instruments, uniforms, equipment, and everything else, was old or non-functional.

The kids from that school were being judged on the system and level as other UIL schools, including national-championship contenders, like the L.D. Bell and The Woodlands. Obviously, the kids from that West Texas school were just being crushed. And it was completely unfair and humiliating.

The director was so embarrassed to turn in the 5 score, that he decided to do something about it. So the following season, he convinced his own district to convert its band contest into a fundraiser. All the funds raised went to school in WestTex that earned a 5. They turned over a check for several thousand dollars to that school's director, no strings attached. The recipient used the funds to go out and buy some new instruments - which they hadn't done in years.

Now that's class. I hope our district has similar fundraisers in the future.

==================================================

Will we see this type of charity, magnaminity, and goodwill, in DBC? Will some of the WC corps begin holding fundraisers for OC outfits in trouble? Would a WC host a show, to raise funds for a struggling OC in the same town or state?

Dream on! I will believe it, when I see it.

I remember that. It was a gallant exhibition of humanity...which is a lesson to all.

[tjestling]

Possibly we have hit the core of the issue. If we, who love drum corps, think of it as a financial paradigm, then it will be just that. Finances are, and must remain, secondary. Drum corps is about transformation as a member of a committed group striving for excellence. If Open Class is to flourish, it must flourish as a priceless, life-changing experience not as a business model. Plato had a great deal to say about this in The Republic. If we think it is worth saving then we must be the ones to rescue it. Drum corps is and will remain attractive to young women and men who seek the ultimate in marching music. Open class or world class means very little to this essence of the activity. The kids do not really notice the age of the bus in which they travel Ask anyone who has truly given themselves over to the experience and they will tell you - "tis the gift."

[ItsOnTheField]

Possibly we have hit the core of the issue. If we, who love drum corps, think of it as a financial paradigm, then it will be just that. Finances are, and must remain, secondary. Drum corps is about transformation as a member of a committed group striving for excellence. If Open Class is to flourish, it must flourish as a priceless, life-changing experience not as a business model. Plato had a great deal to say about this in The Republic. If we think it is worth saving then we must be the ones to rescue it. Drum corps is and will remain attractive to young women and men who seek the ultimate in marching music. Open class or world class means very little to this essence of the activity. The kids do not really notice the age of the bus in which they travel Ask anyone who has truly given themselves over to the experience and they will tell you - "tis the gift."

So explain the numerous kids who will only march world class. If they get cut, then they take the summer off and dont even consider Open class. You can't tell me that "class" means very little. To some yes...to many, sadly, the answer is no.

[oldschooldbc]

So explain the numerous kids who will only march world class. If they get cut, then they take the summer off and dont even consider Open class. You can't tell me that "class" means very little. To some yes...to many, sadly, the answer is no.

There are elitists in every activity. There are some folks who will not march OC, because they think it is beneath them.

I can imagine a conversation between them - for the sake of this post, I will call them Muffy and Thurston:

Thurston: "Muffy, let's try out for Drum Corps this year. But let's only try out for a World Class corps. In fact, let's only try out for a Top 5 corps. We don't want to mingle with any of that riff-raff in Open Class..."

Muffy: "O Thurston, but what if you don't make one of the Top 5 corps? After all, you haven't picked up your instrument in three years. Maybe your daddy can buy us a spot? I thought he lost all that money last year, in the credit derivatives market."

Thurston: "Well, Muffy if I can't make a Top 5 outfit, let's just spend our summer down at the yacht club....."

================================================================================

====

Yes, I have met a few elitists over the years. No, Open Class is probably not for them. Indeed, they would be miserable in Open Class - and they would probably make the rest of the members miserable. Maybe they shouldn't come.

So let's preserve Open Class for the folks who love drum corps, and are serious about it.

(p.s., if any readers of this blog are named Muffy or Thurston, please do not take offence. These characters are not patterned after you. They are products of my warped, twisted imagination. They are not real. Do not send your lawyers to sue me. I have nothing.)

[txorchdork013]

But it is about a paradigm shift in how Open Class is viewed and then about hard core recruitment. I teach orchestra and about April my group starts hitting every possible school that could feed students to mine. We do a small concert and answer questions about the expectations of being in orchestra. We do this to hopefully entice kids to stay in the orchestra program or join. But recruitment actually starts in January when the school guidance counselor is doing pre-registration and I go an visit with the elementary schools and talk up my program. If I didn't, they might not know about it in the first place and I lose kids to ignorance.

Open Class has to show how awesome they are. They have to remind others that Open Class includes international corps also. DCI has to help promote them better, which might improve ticket sales and attendance.

I really feel that the lack of attendance has more to do with many not understanding the whole "Open Class" genre and if you only know of DCI through World Class corps you have seen on TV then why go to an open class event.

I will admit, I never knew about Dutch Boy, BDC or Revo (and I am from TX) until my daughter got began marching Open Class. There's not alot out there on the internet about it and media is hard to come by.

It is kind of nice to have VK as an Open Class Corps because if you are an old drum corps fan you would remember VK and that would expose you to open class now.

[j.morgus]

Open Class has to show how awesome they are. They have to remind others that Open Class includes international corps also. DCI has to help promote them better, which might improve ticket sales and attendance.

I really feel that the lack of attendance has more to do with many not understanding the whole "Open Class" genre and if you only know of DCI through World Class corps you have seen on TV then why go to an open class event.

I don't know who is to blame, but what you say rings true. I know in my area most potential members have never heard of any but the usual top (World, this year) class contenders that they used to see on TV once a year. The Quarter-finals broadcast may help increase awareness of the mid-level World class corps, but even with that, the entire existance of Open Class is unheard of by most of these kids.

Something to increase the awareness level, and an understanding that these groups also put on amazing shows and provide a wonderful experience is needed. Not to disparage the "best of the best", but when that is hyped so hard, the remainder comes off looking as less that worthy of a kids notice.

[84BDsop]

Open Class has to show how awesome they are.

An Open Class could be the 2nd coming of Star....but it means jack squat if people stay in the lot to watch the headliners warm up and only come into the stadium FOR the headliner.