Klarinet Archive - Posting 000699.txt from 1998/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: was budget cutbacks
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 11:27:43 -0400

On Tue, 14 Apr 1998, Mark Charette wrote:
> At least you _have_ an orchestra! At our school district there is no
> orchestra, and the high school band director is also the 8th grade
> band director at the middle school.

Many districts are losing their string programs all together. The social
aspects of the band are pulling students away from wanting to study
strings....however, if the string program is strong, it will always draw
some of the best and brightest. My wife teaches elementary and jr. high
strings in Bloomington. Not only have 35 of the 40 students continued to
the high school each year, they do so with excellent skills....better than
those of the band students (of course, I am not prejudice here).

The job of the HS band director is often to take one or two of the bands
at the lower levels.....eg., 6th grade or 7th grade. It is fairly strange
to have the 8th grade band run by the high school teacher however......

Roger Garrett
IWU