Jeff Ream Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Slightly different idea here being bandied about, Jeff. More about developing something in the city proper to give kids some positive alternatives to the nearly nothing they have. Ground up stuff. Not the normal independent stuff going after experienced kids. Could evolve into more, but right now, the city school district isn't doing beans. most local independents arent going after experienced kids. they're going after bodies with a desire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 YES. It's a large part of the issue. Does Pennsylvania need over 500 School districts, each paying a six-figure superintendent, so on and so forth? The only solution to me to save the kids in Harrisburg City and neighboring Steelton-Highspire would be to literally split them up like a pie and merge them with neighboring Susquehanna Township, Middletown, and Central Dauphin- unknown if Lower Dauphin borders any of it given the convoluted gerrymandering that took place BITD. The problem would be none of the above would want the kids, and it would take years to get it straight, but I think that in the end everyone would benefit. Almost all of the Harrisburg kids are decent kids and want something more for themselves, they just need more positive guidance as to how to get there. As for upstate New York, very similar. Teeny districts. A lot of money would be saved through consolidation up there. There are constant pushes by the NJ State DOE to have small districts merge with adjacent larger ones to better utilize funds and provide more opportunity, but the idea of local control is so deeply embedded that it rarely happens.The state has for decades tried to get tiny Glen Ridge to merge into the adjacent Montclair district, to no avail. The GR parents love the control they have and the education their kids receive. What does happen is that towns sometime decide on their own to create a regional school district. In my district, up to around 1973'ish, the kids from West Windsor, Plainsboro and Cranbury all had K-8 elementary schools but sent their kids to Princeton HS. WW and Plainsboro decided to create a single regional school system, West Windsor-Plainsboro, back in the early 70's. Cranbury declined to participate. To this day, the HS kids in Cranbury have to drive through WW-P to get to Princeton HS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 (edited) There are constant pushes by the NJ State DOE to have small districts merge with adjacent larger ones to better utilize funds and provide more opportunity, but the idea of local control is so deeply embedded that it rarely happens.The state has for decades tried to get tiny Glen Ridge to merge into the adjacent Montclair district, to no avail. The GR parents love the control they have and the education their kids receive. What does happen is that towns sometime decide on their own to create a regional school district. In my district, up to around 1973'ish, the kids from West Windsor, Plainsboro and Cranbury all had K-8 elementary schools but sent their kids to Princeton HS. WW and Plainsboro decided to create a single regional school system, West Windsor-Plainsboro, back in the early 70's. Cranbury declined to participate. To this day, the HS kids in Cranbury have to drive through WW-P to get to Princeton HS. I guess Cranbury got bogged down. (cymbal crash.) Some great musicians have come out of that WWP band to join Cadets, Surf, Crossmen and others. Some even taught DCI corps. Edited March 14, 2016 by xandandl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I guess Cranbury got bogged down. (cymbal crash.) Some great musicians have come out of that WWP band to join Cadets, Surf, Crossmen and others. Some even taught DCI corps. That is my district, though a lot of the DCI members are before my time. I have been working with the marching band since 1994, my son's freshman year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 There are constant pushes by the NJ State DOE to have small districts merge with adjacent larger ones to better utilize funds and provide more opportunity, but the idea of local control is so deeply embedded that it rarely happens.The state has for decades tried to get tiny Glen Ridge to merge into the adjacent Montclair district, to no avail. The GR parents love the control they have and the education their kids receive. Ahhh yes... the old "home rule" concept. The third rail of NJ politics. LOL. Happens not only with school districts, but with police and fire departments, etc. Even when consolidation makes sense, it rarely happens... like you said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 That is my district, though a lot of the DCI members are before my time. I have been working with the marching band since 1994, my son's freshman year. Willie Higgins and several other Cadet snares and some horn players came out of WWP in the later '80's and early 90's. Willie went on to be the major snare tech for Cadets for many seasons. Mike, why did the pipeline shrivel once you got there? I hope it was just coincidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Willie Higgins and several other Cadet snares and some horn players came out of WWP in the later '80's and early 90's. Willie went on to be the major snare tech for Cadets for many seasons. Mike, why did the pipeline shrivel once you got there? I hope it was just coincidence. The pipeline shriveled before I moved to the district. Willie was the most prominent student who marched in corps back then, as you said. His folks remained in town well into my time in the area, so we'd see him every so often as he visited home. He'd come to the school to say hi to the band director We also saw him at band shows in CMBC (at the time). We have had a couple of graduates participate in corps after HS. The best mallet player I ever taught was on the Cadets sound team last year, as he is majoring in that in University, for instance. One of our snares has participated in the Experience camps, as they are close by in Pennington. A few kids recently had checked into trying out for C2, but they never did. WW-P, being one of the top districts in NJ, academically, tends to suck up kids' time.We can't even get the MB up over 50 musicians, let alone send kids to corps. There is a back story to why the pipeline shriveled, but that is all I'll say on that subject here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 The pipeline shriveled before I moved to the district. Willie was the most prominent student who marched in corps back then, as you said. His folks remained in town well into my time in the area, so we'd see him every so often as he visited home. He'd come to the school to say hi to the band director We also saw him at band shows in CMBC (at the time). We have had a couple of graduates participate in corps after HS. The best mallet player I ever taught was on the Cadets sound team last year, as he is majoring in that in University, for instance. One of our snares has participated in the Experience camps, as they are close by in Pennington. A few kids recently had checked into trying out for C2, but they never did. WW-P, being one of the top districts in NJ, academically, tends to suck up kids' time.We can't even get the MB up over 50 musicians, let alone send kids to corps. There is a back story to why the pipeline shriveled, but that is all I'll say on that subject here. Understood. NJ does have some great musical ensembles. For many reasons, they don't always become great pipelines for corps; some for awhile; some struggle to move from the stage to the contest field. I know lower NY State, particularly L.I. and Westchester are much the same, e.g. East Meadow, Mahwah, and Pelham come to mind. At one time Roxbury and South Brunswick were great pipelines. You only can do what you can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 most local independents arent going after experienced kids. they're going after bodies with a desire Yes, but there's a lot of oddness within that Harrisburg/Steelton area where the thought is, to create awareness, get these kids something to do non-sports, something that's rather different than what's already there. Maybe part of it could be once you get these kids into some kind of a novice/A local situation and give them the tools to succeed and thrive as young adults, maybe then- they'd be ready to strike out with one of the bigger organizations and be ready to go great work at that level and be well regarded and maybe recruited there. If the end game would be that the organization helped kids, made them better people, and that they could go on and perform with some crack organizations and be wanted there because they know they're good, responsible individuals who know how to get things done in the right way- I'd see that as a success as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 That may be a common wish. But we should acknowledge that competition will naturally drive field corps toward performing the type of shows we see today, which ask more physically from the musicians and much more so from the auxiliary. DCA will ultimately be suited only for those of athletic age and the few who retain remarkable physical fitness beyond those years (with possible exceptions for pit and gifted soloists).Another potential conflict might arise if competition drives DCA contestants to extend rehearsal schedules beyond the traditional "weekend warrior" format, rendering many of the potential marchers over the age of 22 ineligible due to inability to balance work and corps.DCA, like DCI (or any circuit), has a business model that inevitably supports a certain number of corps. To have more corps, the business model must change.For example, the original DCA business model supported 10 corps, eventually increased to 12. Over time, the number of corps declined to about that number (13). DCA changed the model to incorporate the class A concept, and the DCA activity grew by a few corps.Some years later, corps from other regions expressed interest in DCA, eventually leading to DCA changing the model to reach out to those corps, provided they come to championships. However, the number of member corps was not expanded. DCA grew by a few more corps, but it now looks like that growth might not be sustained.How can DCA grow further? Maybe by encouraging a level of participation that does not require championship attendance. If corps in distant regions could focus on events in their own region instead of the costly journey to the Northeast, maybe those corps would become stronger and more numerous. Then, maybe those regional events would become better attended and more numerous, making it possible for even more corps to develop. How exactly did DCA reach out to other regions???????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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