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My whole life started because of a music trip. Wait...that sounds worse than it is. What I mean is that so many of the incredible things that have become my life started because of a music trip.
In my first year of teaching, the superintendent of schools told us the following: “You can lead a horse to water; you can’t make him drink. But you can put salt in his oats.” To be candid, the man was not a stellar administrator. But for some reason, for better or worse, this little tidbit has stuck with me for 30 years.
Clarity comes in surprising places. This summer I spent a week at Boy Scout camp in the forest of northern Wisconsin. My son is working towards his Eagle Scout badge, with a deadline to achieve that by his 18th birthday next spring when he’ll age out. That meant this would be his final year at summer scout camp, and being an assistant scoutmaster with the troop I wanted us to spend this one last time together at Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan.
It was one of those moments where stubbornness and inexperience collided head on.
Finally—summer. Congratulations…you have made it to the end of the school year and survived the sprint of final concerts, finishing grades, graduation, festival performances, spring musical, and any of the other activities that tend to get squeezed into the last four weeks of school.
We all know the benefits of learning and performing music. Playing an instrument in an ensemble can improve a person’s sense of belonging and feeling of community, improve cognitive and motor skills, and help people form lifelong friendships.
A story was relayed to me by a band director friend. She was at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and while walking through McCormick Place overheard a portion of a conversation between a group of young band directors.
In this final (for now, anyway) installment of this series, we’ll discuss some myths related to motorcoach travel and expectations at hotels when traveling with your ensemble.
In the last issue we started to tackle some budget-related student travel myths, to help you as a director better address many of the typical questions parent boosters will pose during the travel planning process.
About a year ago in this column, we ran an article about the advantages of early planning in relation to performance travel.
This issue of SBO Magazine is the 20th annual salute to “50 Directors Who Make a Difference.”
There’s no growth in a comfort zone, and no comfort in a growth zone.