We had a great day today. Waking up at 8am, we ate breakfast in two sittings at 9:00 and 9:45. We then relaxed and went to the "Carousel Mall" from 11:30 to 1:30, returned to the hotel from 2 to 4 to relax, and then went to our rehearsal site at Central Square High School from 4:30 to 7:00pm. It took a while for the band to get going at first, we had some problems with falling apart and fixed them. The weather was incredible, the stadium beautiful, a turf field, lights, and all. Then the last 90 minutes the band did the best they ever did. We made some major changes to increase the flow of the songs, cutting out the spaces between the movements. Then we did some work on those transitions to make the show perfect in terms of the dramatic content and musical impacts. We ended as it started to drizzle and went to eat at "Old Country Buffet" in Syracuse. Returning to the hotel at 9:15, the band members had free time at the pool until 11pm when they all went soundly to bed. We were incredibly lucky with the weather for our rehearsal, it seemed to stop just for us! We are all psyched about our performance at the Dome tomorrow.
Remember, judging is subjective. Be ready for anything.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Trade Offs & Departure Day Trip Update
Let me just say that the trip is going great. The kids, as usual, are the best ever! We had a tiny mishap in northern Westchester. While in stop and go traffic, bus 3 was bumped by a car at about 3:45 and we had to stop for about 20 minutes to deal with that. Only a handful of students on the bus actually realized that it happened and everybody was absolutely fine.
As band director, I am constantly balancing the needs of the students with the academics, marching/music rehearsing, and social aspects. We canceled last night’s rehearsal due to these needs. I felt, and the staff agreed, that a night off would help everyone recharge and rest for the up and coming weekend. It would also give people a chance to pack and get some of their school work done. When it turned out to be a nice night my “band director” side said “oh no, we could have rehearsed” while my humanistic side said “good move, the rest will pay off.”
Balancing the needs of the academics has always been an important goal of mine with the building of this dynasty in an academic powerhouse school district. This is why, when some parents were very vocal about leaving after 9th period so that the students would only miss 9th period once, I went along with the request.
I knew it would happen. Leaving 40 minutes later added about 3 hours to our trip. We usually made a point to leave around 1:30, at the beginning of the 9th period in order to get through the city before the traffic became unbearable. Leaving 40 minutes later was a nightmare. The bumper to bumper traffic caused us to spend 3 additional hours on the busses thus missing our free time at the hotel, our traditional “pool time.” We also had to alter our eating arrangements. We had a great dinner at the “Old Country Buffet” in Vestal, NY (just outside of Binghamton) at 8:15 pm. I feel bad that the kids had to sit on the bus all that time, and lose their social time. The trade off would have definitely been more worthwhile if more than just a handful of students went to the 9th period class.
We arrived at the hotel at 11:50 pm and we all immediately went to bed to rest up for a busy day tomorrow. Check back to this blog tomorrow for another update.
As band director, I am constantly balancing the needs of the students with the academics, marching/music rehearsing, and social aspects. We canceled last night’s rehearsal due to these needs. I felt, and the staff agreed, that a night off would help everyone recharge and rest for the up and coming weekend. It would also give people a chance to pack and get some of their school work done. When it turned out to be a nice night my “band director” side said “oh no, we could have rehearsed” while my humanistic side said “good move, the rest will pay off.”
Balancing the needs of the academics has always been an important goal of mine with the building of this dynasty in an academic powerhouse school district. This is why, when some parents were very vocal about leaving after 9th period so that the students would only miss 9th period once, I went along with the request.
I knew it would happen. Leaving 40 minutes later added about 3 hours to our trip. We usually made a point to leave around 1:30, at the beginning of the 9th period in order to get through the city before the traffic became unbearable. Leaving 40 minutes later was a nightmare. The bumper to bumper traffic caused us to spend 3 additional hours on the busses thus missing our free time at the hotel, our traditional “pool time.” We also had to alter our eating arrangements. We had a great dinner at the “Old Country Buffet” in Vestal, NY (just outside of Binghamton) at 8:15 pm. I feel bad that the kids had to sit on the bus all that time, and lose their social time. The trade off would have definitely been more worthwhile if more than just a handful of students went to the 9th period class.
We arrived at the hotel at 11:50 pm and we all immediately went to bed to rest up for a busy day tomorrow. Check back to this blog tomorrow for another update.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
At least we got a State Champion Banner!
The band was great once again. The best marching we ever did! We received a "State Champion" Trophy in our class and a nice looking banner. I am thrilled with our performance!
We wanted to try the other circuit, the USSBA. We did! I was not happy with the way the event was run. In addition we got hammered by the judges. Our number probably should have been in the mid 80's. Copiague should have been higher as well, along with some other bands. Seems bands that aren't participating in their "All-States" championships didn't do so well with the scoring today. Interesting. And what about the food. They had one small food truck, the kind that pulls up outside a factory, with 2 guys selling food for the entire show. Hundreds of kids had to wait on line for hours to get food. This was totally unacceptable. In addition, the drum majors from all those bands had to stand for a long long time before they were brought onto the field. Again, totally unacceptable. Our performance was great. The way the show was run wasn't. There were many other things that bothered us as a staff but I don't want to get into it. I am trying to get some rest tonight!
To be honest with you I was shocked about the food thing. The kids always come first. Eating is a major priority to kids who have been practicing and sometimes driving in busses all day. The food situation really bothered me. I have never seen anything like it. That in itself is enough to never go to that circuit again. Maybe in four more years, we may try the USSBA. If we do, we will bring a bagged lunch!
We wanted to try the other circuit, the USSBA. We did! I was not happy with the way the event was run. In addition we got hammered by the judges. Our number probably should have been in the mid 80's. Copiague should have been higher as well, along with some other bands. Seems bands that aren't participating in their "All-States" championships didn't do so well with the scoring today. Interesting. And what about the food. They had one small food truck, the kind that pulls up outside a factory, with 2 guys selling food for the entire show. Hundreds of kids had to wait on line for hours to get food. This was totally unacceptable. In addition, the drum majors from all those bands had to stand for a long long time before they were brought onto the field. Again, totally unacceptable. Our performance was great. The way the show was run wasn't. There were many other things that bothered us as a staff but I don't want to get into it. I am trying to get some rest tonight!
To be honest with you I was shocked about the food thing. The kids always come first. Eating is a major priority to kids who have been practicing and sometimes driving in busses all day. The food situation really bothered me. I have never seen anything like it. That in itself is enough to never go to that circuit again. Maybe in four more years, we may try the USSBA. If we do, we will bring a bagged lunch!
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