Tuesday, June 15, 2010

A Time to Step Up...

For my son.

We went to a meeting for the band last evening. It was little overwhelming, even for me. But what a great experience for the boy. The teacher has been teaching at that school seventeen years and at one of feeder middle schools for several years prior to that. She knows what she's about. It's apparent that she loves music and she loves kids. She hosts extra band camps in June and July that she doesn't get paid for in order to ensure the band has a leg up in learning the music and routines.

He won't get to slide in his school work any longer--there will be weekly grade checks in order to play at football games. Band practice every morning and on Tuesday evenings.

The Band Booster raises/spends close to $30K a year. Wow! But they provide everything from instrument lube oil, the sheet music, reeds for the woodwinds, drum sticks, etc... I guess I'll be a busy band mom this year. I think it's going to be an awesome experience for him (and me). This is a fairly protected group, for which I'm glad. It sounds terrible, but he'll have little time for the two friends I don't care for that are a grade ahead of him.

Plus he wants to play baseball in the spring and we've convinced him to take JROTC, as well, as he wants to join the Marines. He's going to be a busy, exhausted boy. He'll have little time to get into trouble.

So I dropped $100 last night to get him up and running with a uniform and marching shoes and other band paraphernalia. Of course, now I have to buy him an instrument. Yikes! Keep your fingers crossed we can find a good used one for a reasonable price.

The cool, but curious thing was that the teacher has made him first trumpet already. She knows him from last year as she spent some time with his middle school band and she is familiar with his ability, but he's a freshman. What happened to all the other trumpet players? Did they ALL graduate? Interesting. A good opportunity, to be sure, but odd.

Look out high school, here he comes!

1 comment:

mtnchild said...

WOW! and this is all as of day one in high school??? He will be busy. Who is looking forward to it the most; he or you? LOL

Love you,
Mom