things moving, or a Band Day Coordinator. That was the position that Sherri Calhoun,
from Mapleton, filled. She did announcements, was in charge of schedule, getting
lunches for students who forgot them, photocopying, providing water, or whatever else
needed to be done. We had one bonus staff member. Ashland sent a music educational
technician who did whatever was necessary both in and out of rehearsal. She helped the
day to run smoothly.
There was one final key player. When we talked about pursuing the day we knew that
we needed the support of our administration. Since Mapleton is centrally located, it was
decided that Sherri would approach her principal. In today’s world of testing he could
have talked about all the educational mandates and testing that people believe are more
important than music, but instead he was open and allowed us to move forward. He
acted as a liaison with the other principals to ensure their support and we worked
together to find spaces in our small school to host almost 100 extra students. We cannot
thank him enough for his support and encouragement through this whole endeavor. If
you consider trying this we would encourage you to have your principal call Dan Duprey
at Mapleton Elementary School for his endorsement.
So what did the day look like? Here is the schedule that we followed.
8:45-9:00
Arrive/Get set up
9:00-9:30
Mass Band Rehearsal
9:30-10:00
Master Class I
10:00-10:15
Bathroom Break/Snack
10:15-10:50
Master Teachers Perform for Students
10:50-11:20
Master Class II
11:20-11:50
Mass Band Rehearsal
11:50-12:30
Lunch
12:30-12:50
Share our Learning/ Performance
12:50-1:00
Pack our Belongings and Head for Home
In retrospect, this is how we would change the schedule for following years. This revised
schedule has fewer transitions and we think it would flow more smoothly.
8:45-9:00
9:00-9:45
9:45-10:00
10:00-10:45
10:45-11:15
11:15-11:50
Arrive/Get Set up
Mass Band Rehearsal
Bathroom Break/Snack
Master Class
Master Teachers Perform for Students
Mass Band Rehearsal