All About the Choices

  

            “It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling (Chamber of Secrets).

            If the above quote is to be believed, I am a misogynistic, racist, creepy and inappropriate old coot who has been humored by his friends and students that secretly loathe and despise him.  Let me see if I can’t prove this to be true by citing a few examples.

            If you teach high school kids, you are supposed to be on the lookout for the dreaded double entendre’.  None-the-less, at one time or another, I have said the following to a group of students:

“Flutes, just sit there and finger your parts.”

“If you would grease it, it wouldn’t get stuck.”

“Clarinets, are every one of you determined to be flat?”

“More tongue, More tongue.”

“We are going to do 69 over and over again until you get it right.”

            Not only are all of those pretty creepy and a little disgusting coming from a teacher…. they are also pretty creepy and a little disgusting coming from a teacher.   The immediate aftermath of such a statement is usually uncontrollable laughter from every kid in the room.  This happens partly because being 15 or 16 years old means your life revolves around inappropriate and partly because it is fun to realize that your band director is more of a child than you are.  I would like to state for the record that I never pre-planned any such utterances and I was usually not the first one to notice I had done so. 

            Deciding on what Show to do (either full marching band or drum line / indoor guard) is the product of much thought and deliberation.  Somewhere in all of that should come the determination not to offend some large segment of the community with your choices.  To that end, I chose to do shows based on:

Sexual abuse at summer camp – Tommy (Full Band)

Physical abuse by a boyfriend – Silent All These Years (Indoor Guard)

Satan Worship – Scream (Indoor Drum Line)

            Most folks are not aware of the storyline behind the rock opera Tommy.  I only knew that I liked the music and it presented an opportunity for some unique visual elements.  Also, Kevin really wanted to do it.  When the indoor guard instructor came to me about “Silent All These Years”, I really didn’t clue in on the lyrics (anti-Christ yellin’ at me again…) until I saw the work that went with it.  At that point it is too late in the process to change tunes so I softened up the work so much that, for those judges who knew the subject matter of the song, we took a real beating in competition.

            The Drum Line show was intended to make fun of horror movies and all of the elements that are stereotypical to horror movies.  We had music from Scream, the Exorcist, and other scary movies.  We went to Dayton for WGI World Championships and made finals in the World Class finishing in eighth place.  About 2 weeks after we got home, a grandmother of one of my kids showed up at my office door with the preacher from Germantown Baptist Church.  Evidently the drum line show had been discussed at great length in her Sunday school class and the “Satanic” nature of the show was inappropriate for school kids.  The conversation turned to what I could do to make this right.  I agreed I had been a very bad man and would never do the show again which they thought was extremely generous as a solution.  Keep in mind that this was 2 weeks AFTER WGI Dayton. We had already moved on to planning for the next fall. 

            As far as being racist, I mention this last decision.  In 2004, we did a show entitled “Jake Diamond, Private Eye.”  The show had a stage and a storyline about a detective (Brandon) that stalks and eventually kills a bad guy to protect the Femme Fatale (Jessica Wang).  The part of the bad guy had to be played by someone who could wear “wall walkers”, basically strap on stilts, and not fall down.  It was extremely physically demanding.  Fred Dorsett really wanted to play that part so I agreed.  At the end of the show, Jake Diamond shoots Fred.  Yep…… Fred is black and the fact that he is black never occurred to me until the contest before Bandmasters where a judge said, “In this day and time, are you really comfortable shooting a black guy to end your show?”  Well, when you put it that way…..  With a week to go before the final contest, all I could do was ask Fred and his father (who worked at Houston) how they felt about it.  They said they were fine with it and the rest is (thankfully) history. 

           

            These days, everything is so politically correct and the focus is on everyone to get it exactly right.  For those of you who allowed me to make mistakes (of which these are but a few of many), thanks for judging me kindly and patiently.  For those of you just now realizing how rude and thoughtless I really was, not only has the statute of limitations run out on all of the above, but I have already escaped.  Noodles!

There is Pitiful …. And Then There is This!!!

 

            Underwriters Laboratories is the organization that tests stuff to be sure it will stand the test of time.  Almost anything you buy will have a UL tested stamp on it in some location.  They drop it, submerge it in water, set it on fire, hit it, leave it out in the rain, freeze it or let a 5 year old play with it, all in the name of making products that will last and be safe.  I think herein exists an opportunity for the Houston Band.  With very little exaggeration and even less effort, they could break a block of steel.  If it survives life in the Houston band program, it should be stamped HHSB tested with the assurance that it will never, ever break.

            We broke the first vibraphone we purchased in 3 days time.  We broke a piano into nothing but kindling.  Michael Theuns shattered a string bass such that the biggest piece left fit easily in the palm of my hand.  None of this was done maliciously but by accident.  We also wore stuff out.  Wenger Music supplied the music stands we purchased to go into our new band room.  They were plastic and had a lifetime guarantee.  We bought 100 and 80 survived the first year.  The folks at Wenger were shocked but did send us 20 replacements.  After a couple of more years of that, they negotiated a buyout of the lifetime guarantee.  I believe there is only one or two left. 

            There is also quite a bit of band equipment that wore out long ago but is still being used.  Stand carts, podiums, jazz fronts, drum cases, etc…. are put back together with straps, tape, bailing wire and glue so that available funds can be spent on shifting instrument needs, music, drill, and an assortment of other stuff.   Many of the actual wind instruments are older than the kids playing them.  Equipment is not purchased by Germantown Schools just as it was not purchased by Shelby County Schools.  It falls to band boosters to buy and replace everything.

            I was in the band room the other day to visit Matt Taylor and saw something that made me very sad.  Partly because of the pitiful nature of what I saw and partly because I was at least somewhat responsible for its occurrence.  Matt was preparing sousaphones (tubas) to go to the shop for repair.  He had them in cases waiting for the repair folks to pick them up.  Every single case was broken in some way.  Many were held together with bungee cords or rope.  There should be 5 latches on every case and only one case had as many as 3 latches.  Many had holes covered with duct tape.  Here is a picture of one of them.

           

              New sousaphone cases cost $480 each and Matt will need at least 12 of them for this next year.  If the cost is a little shocking, keep in mind that the case is protecting a $5,000 investment (cost of a sousaphone).  These cases are SKB-380’s and come with a (wait for it…………) Lifetime Guarantee!  I am going to approach local businesses about helping out but also wanted this group to have an opportunity to join in.  You can make a donation using the PayPal button on this blog or you can send a check to:

The Houston Band Foundation

C/O Jim Smith

556 Grand Steeple Dr.

Collierville, TN  38017

            It is hard to make the case (get it……… CASE) for having a world-class band program when your equipment is in such dire need of replacing.  Help if you can.

Houston Band Foundation Scholarship Award

            Adam Williams is the recipient of the inaugural Houston Band Foundation Scholarship.  Adam is a two-time All State performer on trombone who also served as a first chair player in both the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band at Houston High School.   This summer he will be serving as a student volunteer at the International Trombone Festival in California and this fall he will attend the University of Texas at Austin majoring in Music Education and Trombone Performance.  His accomplishments on the instrument are profound but his net worth to the program was much more than that. 

            Adam was a hard worker.  At no point do I remember the “eye rolling” seizure so many undergo when asked to move chairs or clean up a mess.  Adam was always happy to do what was asked.  He served as Trombone section leader so his ability to deal with criminal behavior and people with less than genius level abilities is a given.  Adam Williams also worked hard to make himself a better player and band member.  He attributes much of his improvement to an assortment of teachers, mentors and family members.  I would tell you that such improvement is 90% self generated through stubbornness and hard work.  Let me cite an example. 

When Adam was in 7^th grade, he did not make an All West ensemble.  No shame in that, as most do not.  In his 8^th grade year, he was first chair in the 3^rd (Gold) band.  This is notable for 2 reasons:  He was one of only 2 kids from Houston Middle to make All West as a brass player that year.  He was also the 5^th best trombone player in his grade that year (#5 among all 8^th grade trombonists in West Tennessee).  From there, his progression up the ladder would allow him to become a 2 time All State player and the best trombone player in West Tennessee his last 2 years.  While the net result for Adam was positive in every respect, the resulting impact on the program at Houston cannot be understated.  His talent and abilities served as a wonderful example of how to improve and that improvement allowed the band to do things and go places it could not have without him.

            So celebrate the example Adam sets.  Work hard.  Don’t quit.  Give back more than you get.  Don’t grab attention for yourself but direct attention to those around you.  Step up – even if doing so is not high on your list of “comfortable things”.  I would hope there are many willing to step up and be the next Adam Williams.

Why Band Works at Houston

Evelyn Harris has been at Houston High School for as long as there has been a Houston High School.  When I came to teach at Houston (during the schools 3^rd year), Evelyn was an English teacher.  Along with Ann Rouse, her reputation was such that kids did not mess with her.  I always assumed that at some point during her first couple of years at Houston, a severe and probably deadly example was made of someone.  My best guess is that the bodies were placed in “the ditch” and guarding that secret was why so many teachers went out to “the ditch” during their planning period.

After my first year, Marjorie Lowe, Houston’s first vice-principal, left to become the warden at Elmore Park and Mrs. Harris assumed the job of vice-principal at Houston.  The job of vice-principal basically consists of doing all of the stuff that is either not fun or that no one else wants to do.  If a teacher does something wonky in the classroom and a parent complains (just imagine… complaining parents), the job of remediating or debriefing the teacher usually falls to the vice-principal.  So, in your office you find:  the kid that was “wonked”, an angry parent, and a teacher who could not possibly have done a bad thing.  Ain’t that a recipe for fun.

            My first interactions with Mrs. Harris were not, as many of you would assume, getting my rear end chewed out for going off the reservation.  My first interactions came at faculty meetings.  Back in the day, the faculty met once a week after school.  The only way to disseminate information (pre-computer/internet) was to have a meeting.  This probably contributed to the fact that, back then, teachers actually knew each other….. but I digress.  Mr. Clayton, our first principal, would get up front with his “coke tablet” and his “#2” and make all the happy announcements.  At the end of the meeting, the job of telling us what we needed to do better or what extra work we needed to add to our day fell to Mrs. Harris.  While I basically tuned out all criticisms, believing myself to be above such things, I also decided to avoid Mrs. Harris since my unfamiliarity with rule following seemed at odds with her mission in life to make all of us “behave”.

            My first 2 years at Houston were full of instances of upset parents since I pretty much “blew up” what was there when I got the job and started it all over.  By the time Mrs. Harris came to be vice-principal, things on the band front were relatively quiet.  The upside for band was that the band began to grow in numbers.  The down side was the potential for scheduling problems and that brought me to Mrs. Harris’ door.  You see, in addition to her other responsibilities, Mrs. Harris was in charge of scheduling.

            Now we get to the rationale for the title of this post.  Band works for a number of different reasons.  Strong parent support, good kids, adequate facilities, instruction and community acceptance are just a few of the reasons.  The overriding reason why this has worked so well for the past 24 years is administrative support in scheduling.  I made the case to Mrs. Harris that a strong band program helped with attendance, academics, behavior and balancing the needs of the whole child versus the academic/athletic tug of war that had existed when I arrived at Houston.  In the 25 years I worked at Houston, not one child was ever excluded from participating in band because of scheduling.  When I tell this at conferences or in-service to other band directors they are both disbelieving and angry.  Mrs. Harris would redo the schedule any number of times in an effort to eliminate conflicts and then, after having done so, would hand schedule the remaining conflicts when necessary.  The number of extra hours she spent in this endeavor was huge.  In the rare event that a class had to be scheduled in conflict with band, Mrs. Harris would allow me to “share” a kid with an academic teacher and even explain to the teacher the importance of this necessity FOR THE KID. 

            Without this sort of ‘Kid First” thinking from Mrs. Harris, band might very well have withered and died at Houston High School.  There are two sorts of people in educational administration today; those that tell you why you can’t do something and those that try and help you figure out how you can do something.  For all of my 35 years in education, Evelyn Harris best defines a helpful administrator.  I did end up (more than once) in her office getting “remediated” about a mistake I had made.  None-the-less, I always valued her help and counsel and consider her to be not only a large reason for my success at Houston, but also a good friend.  It is rumored this is her last go around and that she intends to retire in the near future.  To the 4 people they will have to hire to fill her shoes I say “Good Luck.”  To Evelyn I can only say “Thanks.”