No Interviews

A very good friend of mine was interested in moving from his elementary band director position to the high school band director in his district. A known entity, this man was an incredible educator, super successful with the program he built, as well as a famous and well respected musician in the entire area. His district put him through the ringer, making him interview multiple times, bringing in different instruments to perform on to show he could play, and multiple teaching demonstrations. It infuriated me. I felt that the district should fully “know” what he was capable of and the fact that they had to run him through this gauntlet was a waste of time. They knew this teacher, what he was about, how he interacted, his musicianship and everything about him. Making him go through this process created tension and I felt it was unecessary.

Last year we did interviews for the leadership positions in the marching band. We never did this before and wanted to give it a try. Many kids were very stressed out going through this process, students who already are stressed out being in an academic high school. After the season was complete we re-visited the idea of doing interviews. I felt that the interviews really accomplished nothing. We knew everyone, what they were capable of, and knew their potential. We are a family and live together during band camp and really know each other. I don’t even think any positions were different due to the interviews. So this year we are simply going with the short online application. We will be using all our information, attendance, attitude, musicianship, service, leadership, and putting that criteria together to make our decisions. We will be posting the positions when they are finalized, which will probably be sometime after the school year is over and before camp. Remember, we will be watching you in school, at the rehearsals in the Spring, and adding that to our impressions when making these decisions as well.

Orange Bowl!

As a band director, I know how totally unrealistic it is to expect to break into what is considered the top 5 events in the nation. For bands, it is the equivalent of getting into Harvard – something you might dream about, but the reality of achieving such an honor, even with tremendous hard work and dedication, is extraordinarily difficult. Bands have to be "Nationally Acclaimed." They usually have to be over 100 members, around 150 members, super precise, as well as famous and musically captivating to get into one of these events. These events are the; Rose Parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Orange Bowl Parade and Game, Sugar Bowl Parade and Game, and Fiesta Bowl Parade. Although there are many other events, these are the "Big Boys." In addition, once a band has one of these on its resume, it is considered as having “made it” and can be accepted to any of them, thus becoming one of the top bands in the Nation!

So how shocked and excited I was to receive this invitation on March 16^th. An invitation to one of the oldest and most prestigious Bowl games and parades in the world, the Orange Bowl! I couldn't believe it! Wow, we've made it. Someone at "Bowl Games of America" saw us at Disneyworld, did some research through our website, blog, and youtube sites, and decided that with our growth over the past 8 years, that we are going to be one of these "Nationally Acclaimed Bands." By sending us this invitation, they have put us into another category, a whole different echelon, we have now "made it."

I immediately called the "Bowl Games of America" Group to find out the date of the game and learned it was on January 3rd, a Monday night. Of course, Monday night football, a huge viewing audience night. But it was definitely a problem for us since it would mean we would miss the first two days of school in January 2011. After talking to administration, we all felt that this was such a huge honor that it would justify the two days of missing school. I know our kids, and to be honest with you, a lot of studying takes place on the busses – I have seen it firsthand. I am sure everyone will keep up with their work. In addition, our band members will have the opportunity to earn a fine arts credit from taking part in this event, (see the last page of the packet which is on the main website.) The administration and myself felt that the notoriety of this big event being a part of our band members' high school accomplishments would distinguish them and be another feather in their cap, thus justifying the missed school days.

The other thing was the price. Things are more expensive in Miami that week, for obvious reasons. I was able to get the price down to $1300 total, a feat that took the past week to achieve. We cut a day off, modified the itinerary to fit into a price range that I thought we could work with. I am very mindful of the economic pressures we are all under. This trip was running around $1600 with the first few drafts, but after a lot of work researching and negotiating, we got it down to this final price.

Marching Band is an incredible activity. It is similar to athletics in that to colleges, it demonstrates our kids’ commitment to an activity. It sets our students apart from other north shore schools that do not have competitive marching bands and are not participating in these high profile venues.

So here we are, the packet was handed out tonight, and we will wait to see if we can get enough interest to go on this prestigious event. As always, we have to go through the process. First, we will see if we have enough band members going on the trip. Second, if we hit that number we will present it to the Board of Education for approval. Then we will be on our way to a whole new level! Hopefully we can do this. I really want to give it our all. If it doesn't work out, at least we tried our best. Getting invited is an incredible feat in itself! Let's see if we can generate enough excitement and enthusiasm to bring us to this milestone, an event that everyone will remember forever!

Welcome New Parents!

Well here is the blog. This is the place where I explain everything. It is a page to let you know the inner workings and things which influence our decisions with the band program at Roslyn High School. Here is where we explain everything from what the judges scores are, to what to pack on a trip. Here is where we let you know what our goals are, how we are going to make changes as the year progresses, and what we feel is working or not working so great. When something unusual happens, like an unusually low judges score, or a weather problem in the forecast, I will talk about it here and let you know when we are making a schedule change.

I also use twitter. You can sign on to the twitter.com/roslynband site and sign up for tweets. I send out tweets throughout our trips to let you know where we are every step of the way. You can set up your twitter so that you get all our tweets sent directly to your cell phone as a text message. I do not send out tweets or e-mails regularly. I do update the two main websites two or three times a week and daily during the season, roslynband.com and this website patterblog.com.

I feel that e-mails get lost, and with so many people changing their e-mails, it is hard to get to everyone.

The "Band Fans" our amazing parents group sends out e-mails whenever they have announcements to make. We work very closely together so contacting either of us is absolutely fine. We have links to the Band Fans on their page of the roslynband.com website. The presidents are Susan Passaro and Claudia Wolfson.

It is very easy to get any of us when you need us. Simply send me an e-mail and I will get back to you pretty quickly, usually the same day. I get all my e-mail on my iphone.

Check out the various posts on this blog and you will get a full picture of what we do here with this incredible band program here at Roslyn! Any questions, e-mail either myself or the presidents of the Band Fans.

In general, the first page of the roslynband.com website will have the most important, newest posts at the top of the page. Check it regularly so that you know what is going on. I will also post the full multi-page band camp letter on the roslynband.com website in the next few days. It explains everything. And check out the Band Camp page of the website as well.

Welcome to our family!!!!!

Great Trip! Great Week!

This was one amazing trip. These were the most well behaved kids ever! They showed the chaperones and each other the utmost of respect. The band members got closer and mingled nicely, becoming an even closer knit family. The trip really could not have gone any smoother.

On top of everything going right, nobody got sick, nobody was late except for a few minutes here and there, and there were no mishaps at all. The traffic, weather, and all travel was smooth sailing. We literally didn’t touch the break on either leg of the trip, the ground was dry and there was not one drop of precipitation throughout the week. The only thing which was a little rough was the cold weather the first few nights, it was frigid for Florida on Monday through Wednesday, mostly at night. Thursday was warmer during the day and although the dinner was still chilly ithere was no wind and the fireworks show was incredible. Thanks to the band members for going to bed on time and not keeping us up past curfew. We all had so much fun and doing the two parades was emotional and incredible. In addition, there seems to be no traffic at all. I deliberately set the trip to leave on Sunday instead of Friday to avoid the vacation rush and the Daytona 500 traffic going down the coast on Friday night. It all seemed to work out. Travelling to and from Florida without any traffic is very rare and now, as we pass Newark, it seems we are going to get into Roslyn around 1pm, three hours ahead of time!

Thank you to Kathy Miller for helping me so much with the planning of the trip. A big thank you to Susan Passaro and Claudia Wolfson, our Band Fans Presidents as well as Sherri Marx, the band fans treasurer, for their hours of helping me with the trip. This was a week we will all remember forever!

New Link for all pictures from Disneyworld

http://picasaweb.google.com/pattersax/MagicKingdomParades?feat=directlink

Today's Parade at the Magic Kingdom

Roslyn Marching Band at the Magic Kingdom Parade on

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Friday's Itinerary Changes

Due to the Disney Studios closing early tommorrow we will be modifying
the itinerary. Thanks to th Bergers for catching the closing time at
the Studios (formerly called Disney's MGM Studios).

7 am - Wake Up
8 am - Depart Resort
8:30 am - Arrive at Disney Studios
4 pm - Depart Studios
4:30 pm - Arrive and relax at All Star Sports
6 pm - Depart All Star Resort
6:30 - Arrive at Downtown Disney (we will drop off at Marketplace)
9:00 - Depart Downtown Disney
9:30pm - Back at All Star Sports
12 midnight - Curfew

Pat

Sent from my Iphone

Our Pictures from Yesterday's Parade

Link to our web album

http://picasaweb.google.com/pattersax/MagicKingdomParade?feat=directlink

Parents, send me pictures and I will upload them!

Today's Parade at the Magic Kingdom

Our performance at the Magic Kingdom today! We are having a great trip! The kids are doing great, we are having an incredible time even with the cold Florida weather.

It's as Clear as the Road Ahead - Why We Do This

Yes, we are on the road, somewhere in Virginia at 3:02 am. I am, as usual, pulling an all nighter, drinking diet coke, and making my hourly pilgrimage to the back of the bus bathroom, accross the legs of sleepers and back to the front to look at the road and now blog. I’ve done a ton of these trips with various bands in different school districts and have become a pro at maneuvering the obstacle course to the back of the bus.

And now I ponder. With all the countless hours of planning and setting up this trip, like the launching of a space ship, we are on our way! As we trek to Disneyworld it is totally obvious to me “why” we all do this, as obvious as the stars in the sky. Why we compete. Why we do these trips. Why we do this incredible “marching band” activity. Let me explain.

Many band directors ask me why I do these trips and why we compete, why I run a band that does this much, definitely in a suspect tone. I get angry, grumble, and usually walk away. These people just don’t “get it.” They are missing out on one of the most amazing things by not having a marching band like ours. This band purely and simply changes lives. It is like a secret that once you take part in it, you get glued to it emotionally. This band transforms, bonds, teaches, and creates experiences which the band members and anyone connected with it will remember their whole lives.

This is an incredible week for all of us. We will be marching in one of the most prestigious parades in the vacation capital of the world! We have a huge contingent of parents and family members going as well! The band members have learned how to work together, how to conquer a goal together, and how to have fun together. We have learned alot about life by being in this band, every single one of us! That is why we do this! Now it is 3:40am (I am taking my time writing this) I feel so lucky to be directing this amazing band of beautiful kids. Thank you to the parents, the kids, the community of Roslyn, as well as the administration and Board of Education for supporting us. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this band become what it is! We will make Roslyn proud of us this week.