Advocacy Plan
- Maintaining a heterogeneous and a homogeneous band class (or afterschool club)
- Importance: This allows students to learn their instruments more individually while also allowing them to see how their instruments interact with an entire ensemble.
- Maintaining funding to pay for students to participate in assessments (solo and ensemble)
- Importance: Performance is an often-overlooked aspect of young musical development. It is very important that young musicians get used to criticism at a young age. As well as get comfortable playing in front of others. Both in an ensemble or on their own.
- Maintaining funding to use for upkeep of instruments
- Importance: This one is as simple as it gets. It becomes difficult to teach a musical instrument without the functioning instrument. There needs to be a “rainy day fund” for when inevitably a young musician damages an instrument.
- Communication:
- Some ways I would communicate and advocate for my program are through the vastly growing and improving technology. I would want to have an Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. All for my band program. This way both my parents and students can keep informed of the events happening with the band. Social media can be used as a good way to remind the students of things coming up and keep parents up to date on what we are working on in class.
- I would also love to have administrators participate in some way. It would be great to have them sit in on class. However, I would love it if I could put on a music instrument fair. With permission of my administrators, Id love to set up a walk around fair of all the instruments. I would ask for parent volunteers and friends to come and man each instrument booth. And the students in my current band would display their instruments to perspective band members! It’s a great way to recruit and involve my current students.
- Ideally another excellent way to advocate for my program is to let it show for itself. I would look for many opportunities for my group to play in public. That way my program gets a name for itself. Playing at gigs, opening of other larger ensembles, and even hosting another larger ensemble for a side by side in our own school. It will help to build the programs name and validity.