Great First Rehearsal

We had our first full rehearsal of the new season last night and the band was amazing.  First we introduced all the staff and student leaders in the Lecture Hall.  Then we went on to do a bonding activity in the Gym, where we made two big circles, made each one go a different way, and we stopped them about 12 times, where they would meet and greet whomever they were facing when we stopped the circles.  This worked very well to get the new and old band members acquainted.  Next was 15 minutes in their sections, where they could meet all the people that they will be working in close musical and marching proximity to in the show, at camp, and in rehearsals.  Next was a basics introction to marching, then to the bandroom where the winds learned the music, the cologuard, pit and drumline went to their areas to work on basics and/or the show.

We did a full run of the first song and a bit of the second in the bandroom and ended the night together. It was a great first rehearsal.  The incoming band members are great players and this will be an amazing year.

Accessibility, Communication, and Supervising the Band

I take great care in keeping the communication lines open to everyone as much as possible.  My initial rule still holds true, if your child is upset about something to the point where they are having trouble sleeping, text or e-mail me and I will get back to you immediately and take care of it.  If however it is not an emergency, please let me do my job of running the trip.

Let me explain. Moving this band is like moving an army.  There are a myriad of tasks which I must constantly keep on top of at all times to keep things running smoothly.  In addition, I try to keep very organized so that I am available to meet the sudden things that come up with the kids during the trip.  This amounts to everything, from security and keeping track of them, to keeping them from slamming doors, eating right, going to sleep, dressing correctly to the emotional dramatic things that can and do suddenly crop up with teenagers around the clock.  As you are aware, the itinerary and every bit of information is already available on the website, blog and twitter.

Thanks for being great!  We have tons of parents and family members going to Syracuse this weekend, probably more than any other band!  I am excited to take your children on this trip, am looking forward to seeing you all upstate and we will all have a great weekend!  Make sure you get those salt potatoes at the Phoenix Show, that is one of the high spots of the weekend!

Storm Blog

As far as the storm approaching,  I am on top of it.  If the storm is hitting New York we will obviously bring the kids home immediately.  Anyone who knows how I run trips is fully aware that their well being is the most important thing,  I treat them as if they are my own family.  Mr. Pilnick and Ms. Murphy are also on the trip and we will all be monitoring the situation at all times.

Judges Announced, etc.

Last night the band was once again, absolutely amazing.  Look at the show on our youtube site https://www.youtube.com/user/roslynmarchingband?feature=mhee Everyone is happy and proud.

The judge panels went up today for the last weekend of the season and here is my quick explanation.

Of the 6 judges at Phoenix, 3 have seen us before, 3 have not.  The three that have seen us before are judging us the next day at the dome.  The other 3 are only judging us at the Phoenix show this year.

This year 11 of the 12 judges at the dome will have seen and judged our band this year.  There is only 1 judge who will be doing a first read of us at the dome and he has judged our band in the past years. One judge will be doing his 3rd read of us at the dome, the other 10 their second read (each having seen us one time this year at one of the shows).  They were spaced out throughout all the shows that we went to this year.  

All judges have seen our band in the past and are all New York State judges.

A few of my observations of competing at the Carrier Dome.

The dome is an indoor venue.  The sound is totally different in that environment so the band can sound and look totally different to the judges and audience in general.  This is both good and bad. There is an echo in the room and some bands cannot deal with it.  Some bands freak out, get nervous, hear the echo and fall apart while others dig in and do their best performance of the year in that room.  Our band always peaks there. The winds can sound louder and this can help some bands.  Drumlines tend to drown out winds in the dome if they are too loud. And most importantly, the judges view the bands from a much higher angle so they get to see the forms better.  Our parents who go to the dome can attest to this as well.  In that room it is a different ball game. Every band looks and sounds much different from the high vantage point.

There are three areas that bands in our class compete in New York State, the Syracuse area, Binghampton area, and Long Island area.  These three areas do not really compete together until the last day of the season at the dome.  In other words, the two Long Island bands do not ever go head to head against the 5 other bands until the last day of the season at the dome.

Are the judges aware of season placements?  Nobody really knows for sure.  Look at the last week placement in 2011 and the results at the dome on this sheet  2011 Last Week to Dome Results. Corning East moved from 6th place to 3rd at the Dome, and Malverne went from 3rd to 1st when they went head to head with everyone at the Dome in 2011. So yes, anything can happen at the dome.

Roslyn Scoring History at the Dome
Hit the link for our dome history which shows how far we have come. Year to year scores really do not mean much, the judging sheets have been adjusted over the years which is why you see dips here and there throughout the years.
http://patpat15.com/roslynhistory2011a 

Being realistic vs. defeatist 

It is my job to make sure that the band, parents, and community are ready for anything, 1st through 7th place, but also to realize that we are currently slated in the bottom of the class.  This can be construed as my being defeatist but I am not.  With every fiber in my being I am always aiming to win.  However, in a subjective judging environment we must realize, that judges are making the call on everything.  So I say we are being positive, aggressively shooting for first place but being realistic in that endeavor.  We are in a competitive class, we have a very strong band program, and are having a lot of fun.  If we win "great" if we don't, that is ok as well. We should all be proud and exuberant with how everything is going this year, regardless of the judging results. Remember, in 2006 we were slated dead last all year, yet in the dome, we came in 2nd out of 12.

Let's have a great ending to our season!

Next Weeks Rehearsal Schedule

In order to alleviate the pressure next week we are going with the following plans.  This is a reiteration of what I went over with the parents at the Band Fans meeting and the students at the end of the rehearsal on Wednesday night.

Scenario #1 - We score within a point of Malverne

• If we are within a point of Malverne on Saturday night we will do Scenario 1.  This means we are in contention to win the New York State Championship and due to the fact that the judges have popped our score, we need to give our kids the best chance of winning.  We need to rehearse on Wednesday for at least one hour.
• On Tuesday morning next week I will look at the weather for the week.  If it is going to be nice on Thursday night for the Newsday Festival we will rehearse for 1 hour, from 7 to 8, on Wednesday night. I may wait another day to make the call on this. Or..............
• On Tuesday morning next week I will look at the weather for the week.  If it is going to be raining on Thursday night that means Newsday will be cancelled.  We will then have a full rehearsal on Wednesday night.  I will only do this if it looks like it is almost definitely going to be raining on Thursday night.

Scenario #2 - we are still points below Malverne and it looks like we are being slotted into 7th place (in other words, the current scenario continues).

• On Tuesday morning next week I will look at the weather for the week.  If it is going to be nice on Thursday night for the Newsday Festival we will cancel Wednesday night's rehearsal. I may wait another day to make the call on this.
• On Tuesday morning next week I will look at the weather for the week.  If it is going to be raining on Thursday night that means Newsday will be cancelled.  We will then have a full rehearsal on Wednesday night.  I will only do this if it looks like it is almost definitely going to be raining on Thursday night.

I will put any changes on this blog, explaining everything as well as the twitter site.

Let's have a great week!

New Procedures in Place due to Thefts

Due to the thefts last Saturday in the lecture hall we will be initiating some new procedures starting with tonight's rehearsal.

1.  We have installed 12 lockers in the bandroom.  Each one has a section name on it.  From 6 to 6:30 students can place their valuable items (phones, iPads, watches, wallets, etc) in the locker that is assigned to their section.  They will be watched and locked at 6:30 then reopened after the rehearsal.  I am the only one who has the key to these lockers.

2.  Students must either have their phones on their body or in these lockers.  I am texting all of the students about this prior to the rehearsal tonight.

3.  From now on, all items of value will be put into the bandroom since there is a camera outside the bandroom door.  We have continual monitoring of who goes in and out of the bandroom with this camera.

4. All luggage and carry-ons will be put into the bandroom next Friday prior to the trip and that room will be locked all day.  We will be placing the uniforms in the lecture hall.  I am stressing to the students that NO valuables are to be put into the garment bags at any time, EVER.

I will be going over these procedures tonight at the Band Fans meeting.

Post about Thefts in the Lecture Hall on October 13th

Our principal, Dr. Andrews gave mis this information to post about the thefts in the Lecture Hall yesterday.

We were informed of this theft while out at the football field. All four administrators quickly returned to the building and began an extensive investigation.

· We have reviewed the cameras from the area of the theft.

· We have searched the areas adjacent to the area of the theft.

· We have gathered a list of the stolen items.

· We have contacted the Nassau County Police Department and they will be arriving to investigate and take a full report.

We, like you, are incredibly upset and angry that thefts of this nature have taken place.

We will continue to investigate this theft and hope to identify the thief and let the police take the necessary action.

From the Mouths of Babes, in the Tundra!

Yes, our children are still our babes.  Every day when I see another one of them pulling up to the school, driving the car while their parent is sitting in the passenger side with that look, you know that look, well it shows us that they are all growing up.

And I learned a couple of incredible lessons from them last night in the tundra of the Whitman parking lot.  After a long day, doing a parade, halftime show, suffering the turmoil of phones and ipads being stolen from our lecture hall, freezing and fatigued, they put it all together and did the best show ever at Walt Whitman.  That is lesson number one I learned.  These kids are super resilient and absolutely amazing.

The thing is, after getting a score of 72, which clearly placed us in 7th in the state out of the 7 in our class, they were all excited, bubbly, happy and joyous.  I wondered what was going on.  Then.......

Lesson number 2 they taught me

As band director, we were wound up with the staff in the Whitman cafeteria, crunching the numbers, trying to figure out the judge tabulation sheet which looks like a spreadsheet for a bank's yearly report.  Then on to talking to other band staffs, guessing dome judges, discussing the results, all in an attempt to get as high a number as possible for our kids in the finals.  We were all discussing changes which need to be make, all of us looking for that all elusive stamp of approval from the judges, it was our typical staff setting, pretty intense.

Then, walking outside, the staff and I were greeted by a band that seems like they won the whole thing!  Perhaps there was a discrepancy in the scores, and we scored higher than Norwalk and the sheets inside were wrong.  That's what it seemed like, kids in our Roslyn uniforms, skipping to the busses as if they had won and had the highest scores in the show, beating all the national class bands.

I always say this funny thing, kind of making fun of the statement, not really getting the true meaning of it.  My brother in law is a physical education teacher in Deer Park.  One time, at some family event, when we were talking about how he taught elementary gym class for a while, while discussing dealing with competition he said: We always say, "If you had fun, You won!  I thought it was funny and totally not realistic when preparing kids for "real life."  I mean, sometimes it rains on your parade and you have to deal with it, dig in, cry, whatever, and get competitive to give yourself the best chance at future success.  I poo pooed it.

So I say that, kind of sarcastically, never really thinking about it very much, it just sounds kind of funny and pokes fun at how we are so centered on building self esteem that sometimes we totally skirt around any kind of "winning" vs "losing."  We do this all in the name of self esteem building.  When we are approaching the field I usually chant it a few times.  If you had fun (and some kids chant back with me immediately), "you won!"  We all have a good laugh.

Then it hit me, while freezing outside, approaching our joyous band members.  It is true!  WOW!  That thing I say, it is TRUE!  Corny, but TRUE!  They had fun, and that means that they won!  They left the show happy, pumped, a bit cold and tired but nonetheless loving what they do and enjoying each other's friendship.

Then I brought a few of the drum majors over to me and asked, "What is going on?  Why is everyone so happy/"  And Nicole immediately said back to me, with Gina and Elizabeth nodding as the words left her mouth, "We were great, and we all know it, that's why we are so happy!"  Wow, they did great, they know it and are totally full of "positive self-esteem."

Then something I totally forgot about came back to me, you know, one of those interactions that you have and forget until something reminds you of it.  I bumped into a band director a few weeks ago and commented on how great his band was and that I wished we could march as great as his band did.  He went on to tell me that he wished his band was as great as ours and could enjoy themselves like the Roslyn kids do.  Wow, we are really doing something here.  We have a great thing going!  And our kids know it.

So you will see me smiling alot more, talking about scores alot less, and blogging about all the amazing things our kids are doing.  They opened a door for me and the staff last night.  They showed us what life is all about.  And parents, you are amazing because you taught these kids not only how to be "Space Camp" kids (my way of fondly reminding them that they are all geniuses), but to be great, compassionate, life loving human beings.  They know how to work hard, how to get it done, and how to enjoy life.  Bravo to all of you!

The Importance of Staying for the National Class

As a band member in a competitive marching band it is crucial for us to know what we are “shooting for” and to understand the social needs of the band members.  We have lost this the two past years, these all important educational components due to the fact that Halloween was intercepting our weekend at the dome.  The last two years I chose to alter our plans because of the students' request to be back at school so they could join in the school's celebration of Halloween. It was something I strongly did not want to do but the kids really wanted to be part of this RHS Halloween tradition.   After all isn’t this always about the kids.

Our band never gets to see the National Class bands anywhere since the show stands are always full and/or we are eating, changing, etc at each of the local shows. The importance of this component cannot be underestimated.

Here are the reasons that we are staying the additional day.  Please remember, we did this for 7 years and there were no complaints because culturally, we all understood how important this was for the following reasons.  It is obvious that I have not clearly communicated how important staying that extra day is to our educational and social growth.

1.  This great opportunity to see 10 of the best bands in the country and know what we are shooting for cannot be done with a video.  We see it from the 50 yard line, up high, together, it is awesome and inspiring.

2. The culmination of our team being together to digest whatever placement we received in the afternoon, together as a family is very important. Especially in a relaxed setting.  Our scores could be up or down since it is totally subjective.  This is a vitally important way for us to work through the results of our season together.

3.The opportunity for our kids to have some fun, going to the mall, relaxing at the hotel, together for the last time is an important social thing.  Each group has it's own family each year, Seniors through Freshman, it starts at Camp and ends at the Dome.  This is the last time that they are ever together, ever.  In an academic environment as intense as ours, it is important for the kids to have some “fun” time once in a while and we must be sensitive to take a break from all the academics to bond socially.

I clearly hear the complaints that this additional day is not important, a waste of time, and that the kids should not be missing school for it.  I also understand that when they moved the Newsday Festival to the last week due to the Presidential Debate, it further added to the intensity of that week.  This is a one year deal, they will move it back to mid October.

Please trust me however, the way you trust me with your kids whenever they are with me.  I treat them as my own children (as if I need any more than the 6 I have).  Yes please trust me that this is important for the kids in the band, for the quality of our group and their social growth.  If you are upset and don’t agree with any of this please throw me a bone on this one.  The band members, parents and staff do not need the added pressure of parents upset over this. We always work together as a family, the band, staff, Band Fans, and community. It is our greatest strength.

We will be arriving back on Monday afternoon, handing the uniforms in when we arrive back which is the official end of our marching band season.  Please be there to congratulate the kids upon our return, as you always do.

Great job at the Pep Rally today!

The band looked and sounded amazing at the pep rally today!  Great job to everyone! We are all looking forward to an amazing weekend!