FHS

[n8dog]

Ok, this is really for Ferndale folks, either those who have graduated, or currently still in high school. Why the hell are kids dropping out of marching band? If you have a younger sibling who is considering not doing marching band for some crappy reason, like they don't like the adults, then you need to get ON that and make sure they stay in

Comments

[jazztothemax]

There's been some pretty crappy leadership skills displayed by everybody (mostly adults though) in the last couple years and it's definitely not as much fun as it used to be. This year though we're going to switch some stuff up, I've talked to Mr. J about this a lot, and theres going to be some big changes. Stupid things were happening, like we used to have a lot of time at Cadillac to go to the water park or just hang out and once the park wasn't open they turned that time into marching time. I suggested that he give us some unscheduled free time at points and do more fun things like the park.

We also have Mr. Moy coming in as our assistant band director which will be a lot of fun.

But I agree with you. Wtf trumpets?

[reuahnedlom]

Just because it's fun for you doesn't mean it's fun for everyone else or going to be fun. Mr. Jamison was acting like a dictator whenever i was around. He wouldn't let anyone else take control of the band, and would barely give water breaks until a bunch of people were like "hey they haven't gotten a water break in almost an hour." And then he yells at them because they're not getting it right and meeting his standards. He makes it not fun. It was fun when we were in it, but that's because Mr. Smith was the director. If somebody doesn't like it, wouldn't it be better if they didn't do it, because they could ruin it for other people.

[n8dog]

I believe quite the contrary though. Quitting band is just running away from the problem! If the people who care quit, then all you have left are people who don't and do not want to help fix the problems.

You need more people like Mariah up there, who care and talk to people, and try to fix these problems.

A big example is when we had Bill Kid around for those two years. I still hate that guy to this day, but we definitely stuck with it! Rather than stop doing it because we didn't like it, we tried to make something of it. And yeah, Mr. Smith was amazing, I agree, but just marching band as a whole was important to me, wasn't just the director.

[reuahnedlom]

No wait what? I said, the people that don't want to do it shouldn't do it, because they'll ruin it for the ones that do want to. Not that the ones that want to should quit. (Correct me if I didn't understand).

I know it's not about the director, it's about everyone, but trust me Mr. J is making it about himself.

[pirateguitar]

my sister doesn't want to do it either, I'm disowning my family, they have shamed me. But I'm not sure, I know my sister doesn't want to do it because she's worried about her grades and I'm forced to sympathize with her on this (against my mom's demands I talk her into doing it). I know I screwed up my freshman year and wound up spending the next three years trying to dig myself out of the GPA hole I'd dug, so freshman year grades are pretty important and I don't want her to get screwed over like I did (she's smarter than me). My brother I think is just losing the flame for music and wants to just focus on swimming. I dunno, I have to talk to him to figure out all of what's up. I mean, if he really doesn't like it then I'm not gonna try and force him to, but if he's just being Alex and saying "I don't wanna" for no reason (which he's known for doing) then I'm gonna smack him around. I dunno, he's really putting a lot of effort into other stuff now, like swimming and japanese so maybe he just feels like he doesn't have the time

[n8dog]

Yeah, I can definitely understand grades, and just not having enough time to get school work done. What I'm worried about are the kids who don't like how things are being run... but then don't do anything about it.

[redheadsaid]

nathan wiley. WELL FUCKING SAID.

marching band is the shiz and i really dont need to say anything more.

yea, yea, jamison isnt as amazing as smith...ive heard it all before. saying mr j is a dictator though...really andy? i completely disagree. my senior year when j took over, he came to me a lot to discuss issues with the band and ask the senior's overall input on a lot of things because he knew this was really all about us.

[songfromsixties]

Nathan. You were not in marching band last year. It was not fun in any way shape or form. So much so that I was extremely close to not doing it this year myself (however, Jamison has convinced me that this year will be different). So please don't criticize without knowing the full story, and try to understand where people are coming from.

[n8dog]

My point, is that rather than just saying you don't like marching band, and dropping out, trying doing something about it!

It's always bothered me when people are inactive with their complaints. Not to mention, dropping out doesn't help the problem at all.

[songfromsixties]

In some cases, however, many students feel that they could theoretically make a difference; they're just too burned out, too miffed, and too disappointed with the whole experience to actually want to do anything about it.

At least that's how I felt about it for a while.