The Smoking Gun at MHS

The band program at MHS has just been pillaged, raped, and murdered.

In the spring, the band was asked to perform at a Levy Rally to support the “Preserve the Progress” school levy. We were told that the levy would allow the district to maintain and improve upon the current state of things in every department, especially music and the arts, since those departments never seem to get enough attention or money in this locale. Dr. Doug Baker presented the propositions of the levy to the Band Boosters, who all supported him and voted for his levy. The Band Boosters were a pivotal point in passing the levy, since it was on the spring ballot, which generally has a lower rate of voting. The levy passed! We were all relieved and a little excited to see what, if any, changes this would bring to the program.

Little did we know, Dr. Baker had a great trick up his sleeve.

Great for him, of course. He planned to switch around the band directors’ schedules. Mr. Greene would teach elementary school music. Mr. Malcom would teach General Music. Mrs. Druss would be the Band Director, teach handbells, and High School General Music. He claimed that their schedules would be arranged so Mr. Malcom and Mr. Greene could help out with marching band during the school day in the fall.

One thing must be understood; Marietta High School has always had an outstanding band. Even at our “worst”, we blew away the competition musically. This year, we got straight I’s (Highest rating possible) at our LargeGroup concert band competition, based strictly on musical quality. Our strength comes from our middle school program, where a foundation is set. The strength of this foundation is based around a two-director system. In addition, the directors put an enormous amount of time into the program on the on and off season. For this reason, they generally do not teach other classes.

The “plan” was also misrepresented. Dr. Baker claimed to have had a “brainstorming session”, during which he told the directors the plan, and did not listen to their ideas. If he had, the plan would be different, because there is no way the directors would help to create a plan, then oppose it so strongly and come before the band boosters completely upset and outraged. He also claimed it would not affect the quality of the program and that the “only change” would be Mrs. Druss losing one planning period a day, which just goes to show how much Dr. Baker knows about education.

He seemed to think that he could pull off the plan with little to no resistance through a combonation of timing, sweet-talking, and outright lies and manipulation of statistics. After all, who would be thinking about school after the year was over?

Unfortunately for him, he had the band and band boosters to deal with, but the directors themselves dealt the final blow–all three of them resigned from their positions as band directors, two of them resigned from the district altogether.

Before their resignation, I wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Times about their article in last weekend’s paper. It was skewed, misled, and seemed to think that because my graduating class was small, the entire band had a dropout rate of 90%. Here is a copy of my letter, for the world to see. Anyone affected by this change, spread it amongst yourselves, and write more. See if we can get ourselves noticed by a higher level of media, or in another venue.

My Letter:

“‘I’ve been following the recent developments for the Wall of Sound with interest. I read the article in the weekend paper that blatantly misuses statistics from MY graduating class to justify hammering at the foundation of the band program. Did we really have a band dropout rate of 90%? Yes. Is this an accurate portrayal of the band program? NO! Has anyone mentioned yet that there are over 20 incoming freshmen? This means that there are over 300% more students entering the High School band program than there are leaving–clearly a growing program! My class was an anomaly. Of all people, I know. Yes, its true, I just walked at graduation, and I will be going to college many hours away, never to step on the performance field with the Wall again. However, I put 7 years of my life and countless hours into this organization, and I do not want to see it crumble after I leave. The Wall of Sound has an upstanding tradition, hailing back beyond the 60’s! We relocated the Band’s trophies this year and there were literally hundreds, for everything from an Orange Bowl parade, to “Best Music in Class AA”, and even a gigantic tower from when the Wall placed in the top ten at Grand Nationals. I am a part of this tradition, a brick in a solid Wall. I do not see a solid Wall in the future, and I have a brother still in the program.

I started band at Marietta Middle School in the fall of 2000. We were under the direction of Marshall Kimball then, and he had had been directing the Wall longer than most of our parents had been alive. My seventh grade year, we had a new Head director, and Mr. Kimball was enjoying retirement. Some kids in my class dropped out with the change, and a large number of high schoolers dropped out as well. The change was just too drastic for many people, and the new director did not help any. I will be honest, the new director did not work well with the students. Many parents complained, and many kids quit, not necessarily because they didn’t “like” band, or they “didn’t want to practice”. Before we even got to high school, our class was shrinking. Our sophomore year, the new director was gone. Ann Druss was now the head director, with Joshua Malcolm assisting, and more people had left with that change. Before we were upperclassmen, we had been through TWO director changes! Band to us was volatile and uncertain. There was not a solid foundation, and as a result, the program suffered. Imagine if every two or three years, the Ohio Buckeyes got a new football coach, or the Florida Gators got a new basketball coach. What do you think that would do to their team?

As it stands now, the incoming freshmen and current middle schoolers are getting the foundation we did not have. Their dropout rates are vastly lower. But now, it is proposed to reassign the current directors! It is claimed that this shuffling will not effect the quality of the program, but I have personally seen that major changes of directors, especially at the middle school level, effects the program in a negative way. One specific proposition is to make Mrs. Druss the only middle school director. I do not deny, this might look good from a monetary standpoint, but, PRESERVE THE PROGRESS claims to be more than a monetary-focused vehicle. It also claims to preserve quality of instruction. I have been through middle school band. Moving a director WILL weaken the program, no debate. But why?

There are three “families” of instruments; Brass, Percussion, and Woodwind. The families are vastly different from each other in technique and style of playing. Each director has their area of special expertise, similar to “offense” and “defense” coaches. Mrs. Druss specializes in woodwinds, Mr. Malcolm specializes in brass, and Mr. Greene specializes in percussion. In sixth grade, students receive small-section attention with the director that specializes in their family. The flutes learn to play flute with only other flutes and Mrs. Druss. The tubas learn to play tuba with only other tubas and Mr. Malcolm. This way, they can make the best use of their instruction time. This efficient system has been producing quality musicians since before Mr. Kimball. We may have declined in number, but we still receive the highest rating possible in concert competitions, even next to bands twice our size. But, what will happen when only Mrs. Druss is teaching middle school band? Say currently the sixth graders get one hour a week of pure instruction on their instrument. In the future, two instruments learn how to play at the same time. Each instrument now gets 30 minutes of effective instruction time instead of 60 every week. With four weeks in a month, the original sixth graders get 240 minutes of instruction a month, and with 9 months in a school year, 2190 minutes of instruction every school year. The new sixth graders will get only 120 minutes of instruction a month, less time than \nit takes to watch Lord of the Rings — The Two Towers. Throughout the school year, they will receive less than a full day of instruction time. The beginning of anything is a critical time of development. We wouldn’t consider less instruction for elementary school kids to be a positive development, so why treat kids at the beginning of their musical lives any different? In addition, the brass and percussion will not get a chance to be instructed by their “specialist”. Instead, the defense coach is teaching everyone how to play the game. This method is not efficient, or preserving any progress. I urge Dr. Baker and the Board of Education to consider the long-term impact of this proposal.“

I also encourage anyone reading, with or without a child in the school district, to scrutinize the plans of this administration more closely. Watch where your money is going, and look through their sweet-talk and “statistics”
I hope it gets published before it is too late, though it might be already.

I am very glad I just graduated.

~ by Anath on June 24, 2007.