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My Sad Little Nutlet
19 Jun 2020 10:57Linnea didn't make it into Wind Ensemble, the elite section at her high school.
She tried really hard.
The auditions were evaluated "blindly" and it just happened that the five flutes who are in? Are the exact same kids who were in last year! Imagine that, a year of elite instruction in small groups did cement how good they are. Seriously, there were no graduating seniors among the flautists.
So none of the six kids in Linnea's flute group made it in. Four of the six say they are quitting band, including Linnea. The problem is that Symphonic Band is also fucking marching band, which interferes with the Fall rowing season, so that's a problem, and most kids who don't get into the elite sections quit, so it's very Freshman heavy, with very few Juniors or Seniors. Most of the kids who were in flute with her in Freshman year who did not also get into Wind Ensemble have quit. She's the only Junior, there is one Sophomore and the other six are Freshmen. She thinks she was the only Junior in Symphonic Band at all.
ETA: The reason for the imbalance in Wind Ensemble. This prof started the same year Linnea did, when the previous music teacher died unexpectedly. Prior to this, Wind Ensemble had been "advanced" but not audition. This teacher decided to make it more selective, and dropped the numbers. Her year was also the first year with freshmen at the HS, which I think is part of why the change was made. Anyhow, the reality is that the kids who got in the first year of auditions are ALL still in it, the one kid who has graduated last year left one spot. I can see why this is sustainable for the kids who are not the Select Few. Next year there will be four spots opening, though.
Next year there is a New Thing, Concert Band. It's not more elite than Symphonic Band, and the teacher claims it's "the same". I have no idea why it's being created then. If they'd made it a bit more difficult and interesting, and a semi-upgrade between Wind Ensemble and what is essentially Freshman Band, they might retain more kids. The voice section has that, everyone, the audition group, and a few other groups by interest that are all-comers, and that is smaller than "everyone" and bigger than the audition group.
I feel bad because we'd (Linnea was involved) decided to not have her do band her Sophomore year. That's because the way things were structured, it would have been impossible for her to get all the classes she needed to have a viable chance of getting to college (as in, grad requirements were for three years of math, while most colleges require four, same for science), and we knew she wanted to take as many computer science classes as possible, and since those don't count for either the math or the science requirements, she didn't do band. THEN the school changed things around for her Junior year (this year) so they have seven periods a day rather than six. Had we known this was going to happen, she could have taken band that extra year. As it is, they're ALSO started allowing kids who do a significant amount of organized extra-curricular sports to waive off a term of PE, so it looks like she'll be able to take even more electives senior year than we thought. I really wish they'd given us a heads up on the change in number of classes earlier, that would have allowed her to take band in her Sophomore year, and she might -might!- have made it in.
Overall, I'm very unhappy with the way music instruction is done in this district. The emphasis on marching band is idiotic, because, unlike some states, it's not A Big Thing here, and ends up being a boring waste of time at the service of the Almighty Football team, which ugh. Between that and the fact that there are two levels which are pretty much broken down into "Elite" and "Freshmen" means that most kids who aren't good enough just.... quit.
I'm so very sad for my little girl. She worked so hard. She always works so very hard, for so very little success. It's difficult to watch. She's plenty bright (as in flat out IQ), but it's hard for her to learn. Once she's learned it, she's fine, but it takes a lot of extra time and A LOT of extra effort. She just keeps on working at stuff, and it's so very difficult to watch her try so very hard for marginal results. Especially since she has the intelligence to know what she's trying to accomplish, and is just unable to do it.
My poor sweet, tenacious, resilient, wonderful little girl.
She tried really hard.
The auditions were evaluated "blindly" and it just happened that the five flutes who are in? Are the exact same kids who were in last year! Imagine that, a year of elite instruction in small groups did cement how good they are. Seriously, there were no graduating seniors among the flautists.
So none of the six kids in Linnea's flute group made it in. Four of the six say they are quitting band, including Linnea. The problem is that Symphonic Band is also fucking marching band, which interferes with the Fall rowing season, so that's a problem, and most kids who don't get into the elite sections quit, so it's very Freshman heavy, with very few Juniors or Seniors. Most of the kids who were in flute with her in Freshman year who did not also get into Wind Ensemble have quit. She's the only Junior, there is one Sophomore and the other six are Freshmen. She thinks she was the only Junior in Symphonic Band at all.
ETA: The reason for the imbalance in Wind Ensemble. This prof started the same year Linnea did, when the previous music teacher died unexpectedly. Prior to this, Wind Ensemble had been "advanced" but not audition. This teacher decided to make it more selective, and dropped the numbers. Her year was also the first year with freshmen at the HS, which I think is part of why the change was made. Anyhow, the reality is that the kids who got in the first year of auditions are ALL still in it, the one kid who has graduated last year left one spot. I can see why this is sustainable for the kids who are not the Select Few. Next year there will be four spots opening, though.
Next year there is a New Thing, Concert Band. It's not more elite than Symphonic Band, and the teacher claims it's "the same". I have no idea why it's being created then. If they'd made it a bit more difficult and interesting, and a semi-upgrade between Wind Ensemble and what is essentially Freshman Band, they might retain more kids. The voice section has that, everyone, the audition group, and a few other groups by interest that are all-comers, and that is smaller than "everyone" and bigger than the audition group.
I feel bad because we'd (Linnea was involved) decided to not have her do band her Sophomore year. That's because the way things were structured, it would have been impossible for her to get all the classes she needed to have a viable chance of getting to college (as in, grad requirements were for three years of math, while most colleges require four, same for science), and we knew she wanted to take as many computer science classes as possible, and since those don't count for either the math or the science requirements, she didn't do band. THEN the school changed things around for her Junior year (this year) so they have seven periods a day rather than six. Had we known this was going to happen, she could have taken band that extra year. As it is, they're ALSO started allowing kids who do a significant amount of organized extra-curricular sports to waive off a term of PE, so it looks like she'll be able to take even more electives senior year than we thought. I really wish they'd given us a heads up on the change in number of classes earlier, that would have allowed her to take band in her Sophomore year, and she might -might!- have made it in.
Overall, I'm very unhappy with the way music instruction is done in this district. The emphasis on marching band is idiotic, because, unlike some states, it's not A Big Thing here, and ends up being a boring waste of time at the service of the Almighty Football team, which ugh. Between that and the fact that there are two levels which are pretty much broken down into "Elite" and "Freshmen" means that most kids who aren't good enough just.... quit.
I'm so very sad for my little girl. She worked so hard. She always works so very hard, for so very little success. It's difficult to watch. She's plenty bright (as in flat out IQ), but it's hard for her to learn. Once she's learned it, she's fine, but it takes a lot of extra time and A LOT of extra effort. She just keeps on working at stuff, and it's so very difficult to watch her try so very hard for marginal results. Especially since she has the intelligence to know what she's trying to accomplish, and is just unable to do it.
My poor sweet, tenacious, resilient, wonderful little girl.
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