5th grade Band Notes
January 11th, 2016
Reflecting at the half-way point of the year
Happy 2016 everybody! We are about halfway through the school year which is a great time for reflection. I am extremely proud of this 5th grade group for so many reasons. Their effort, their enthusiasm, their success- but I am most proud of their perseverance. Learning how to play an instrument is like learning how to read and speak an entirely new language and it is not always easy. These students have had great work ethic and great patience and have gotten to the point now where they are starting to play some really great music. The first concert was fantastic and was a night that I will always look back on with tons of pride.
Recruitment and Retention are the two big “R’s” in the instrumental music education world. To put it quite plainly, our recruitment was awesome. There are 95 students in 5th grade and we signed up 79 of them for band- that is spectacular. Now, our focus turns to retention. Retention (keeping the students once we have them) is an ongoing, high priority for myself, Ms. Kiener-Barnett, and Mr. Gumina. Our bands simply sound better with more students. I am so happy to share that every single kid that signed up for band in September is still in band today- and that is definitely something to celebrate! I would love to type the exact same sentence in my end of the year e-mail. Keep encouraging your kids at home!