PopcornEater1963 Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Just throwing out a question as i prepare to get involved with the leadership of a drum corps. For High School Band Directors... do you "forbid" your marching band members to participate in DCI? Do you "encourage" your marching band members to participate in DCI? Do you have a "case by case" policy that relies on the attitude of the individual kid in question? Have you seen returning kids be a positive? A negative? Do you have enough data to relate the ratio of "positive experiences" to "negative experiences"? I know the "war stories" in general. And i'm operating from a premise that the "risk is worth the reward" to allow high school marchers participate understanding that the risk is they may return to the high school marching band with an attitude of "superiority" and "negativity". What say you DCP? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, PopcornEater1963 said: Just throwing out a question as i prepare to get involved with the leadership of a drum corps. For High School Band Directors... do you "forbid" your marching band members to participate in DCI? Do you "encourage" your marching band members to participate in DCI? Do you have a "case by case" policy that relies on the attitude of the individual kid in question? Have you seen returning kids be a positive? A negative? Do you have enough data to relate the ratio of "positive experiences" to "negative experiences"? I know the "war stories" in general. And i'm operating from a premise that the "risk is worth the reward" to allow high school marchers participate understanding that the risk is they may return to the high school marching band with an attitude of "superiority" and "negativity". What say you DCP? YES! all of it........Sorry I know that wasn't helpful BUT like with anything you do see it all. Edited February 13, 2023 by GUARDLING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowend Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I've only had one student march in high school and I think it's very important to manage their expectations when they get back. They are coming from a very intense environment where everyone, mostly, is a high achiever. There's the push of daily performances and the hyper-attention of the staff. Then they come back to high school band where you have the slackers, much smaller staff, much easier material. There's the possibility for frustration with other band members, boredom, etc. The returnee will have no problem with the band music and drill. Manage the kid well and he/she can be an asset when they come back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I think it depends on the schedule of your own group, the schedule of the circuit they want to march, and the individual student. have a chat with them about managing expectations, attitude, and schedule. Some are not great about coming back to band and being humble, others manage it very well. Its all about managing expectations and attitude. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook'emCavies Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 4 hours ago, PopcornEater1963 said: Just throwing out a question as i prepare to get involved with the leadership of a drum corps. For High School Band Directors... do you "forbid" your marching band members to participate in DCI? Do you "encourage" your marching band members to participate in DCI? Do you have a "case by case" policy that relies on the attitude of the individual kid in question? Have you seen returning kids be a positive? A negative? Do you have enough data to relate the ratio of "positive experiences" to "negative experiences"? I know the "war stories" in general. And i'm operating from a premise that the "risk is worth the reward" to allow high school marchers participate understanding that the risk is they may return to the high school marching band with an attitude of "superiority" and "negativity". What say you DCP? Well, I can say I was discouraged at the college level. Then again the director of bands, at the time, was not the greatest in terms of aiding/shaping young minds. One too many stories about that guy.... so, I would say a reasonable teacher would encourage students to march. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) Lol had a crusty WWII vet close to retirement as a HS band director. We didn’t compete because we had some kids from bad homes and/or low self esteem. He figured if we competed people would be on them if they screwed up. Notice: “people” meaning band parents. So all he cared was you made practice and the gigs. And he hoped doing band with their peers would give them self confidence for later life. (Learned that when we asked why we didn’t compete. Had a nice adult talk between 3 teenagers and guy in his 60s) Assistant BD was in line for the head job so he made sure he didn’t PO anyone. Turned out he was horn instructor and DM for a local Senior corps. Never heard him say the words “drum corps” while with the band Edited February 13, 2023 by JimF-LowBari 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook'emCavies Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 22 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said: Lol had a crusty WWII vet close to retirement as a HS band director. We didn’t compete because we had some kids from bad homes and/or low self esteem. He figured if we competed people would be on them if they screwed up. Notice: “people” meaning band parents. So all he cared was you made practice and the gigs. And he hoped doing band with their peers would give them self confidence for later life. (Learned that when we asked why we didn’t compete. Had a nice adult talk between 3 teenagers and guy in his 60s) Assistant BD was in line for the head job so he made sure he didn’t PO anyone. Turned out he was horn instructor and DM for a local Senior corps. Never heard him say the words “drum corps” while with the band Wow! That's a darn good teacher. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) 20 minutes ago, Hook'emCavies said: Wow! That's a darn good teacher. His WWII experiences definitely shaped his priorities. Treated the band members like adults and you had to call him by his first name. Drove some of the other teachers nuts “don’t call him Whit, call him Mr Gingrich”. “If I call him Mr Gingrich he won’t answer me”. Was in pit orchestra for some HS musicals and he directed us for some shows. 10 o clock rolls around and it was “go home and get some rest”. Guy directing the play would flip and would be told “we know what we’re doing, these kids got school tomorrow “. Edited February 13, 2023 by JimF-LowBari 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) . Edited June 12, 2023 by scheherazadesghost 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Guns Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 My son's high school definitely encouraged drum corps. The school has housed corps during the SoCal part of tour every year since 2007 I believe. Crown, BD, BK, SCV are just some of the few to house there. Plus quite a bit of the band's staff is on staff for different corps. I remember my son's sophomore year (2019), they did a family day and show reveal which happened to coincide with DCI Finals that Saturday. I remember only like 20% of the staff was present because the rest of them were in Indy at Finals with their respective corps. Till this day, I never understood why they chose to do family day/show reveal the same day as DCI Finals lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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