Building a Culture of Winning

[longhorn2190]

We all know the powerhouses (Marcus, Bell, Bowie, Reagan, Coppell, Duncanville, to name a few). More bands have found recent success (Hebron getting the silver medal, Johnson making finals), but can they sustain it?

 

What factors are necessary to create a program that is a perennial powerhouse that not only can be expected to make State, but come close to, if not make finals consistently?

[Clarinet_Lover41]

We all know the powerhouses (Marcus, Bell, Bowie, Reagan, Coppell, Duncanville, to name a few). More bands have found recent success (Hebron getting the silver medal, Johnson making finals), but can they sustain it?

 

What factors are necessary to create a program that is a perennial powerhouse that not only can be expected to make State, but come close to, if not make finals consistently?

 

I feel like you are discounting some of the bands here... I know Hebron has been up there fighting for a high spot for quite sometime, last years was an awful year and they will all tell you that. I was a freshman at Hebron 8 years ago, we were 4a and we always seemed to find our way into finals at BOA (being the only 4a school, during that time) and always would do well. I think you have to be careful about bands that have found more recent success. I personally think Hebron has had success and I know Johnson is young but they are going to be a force for a long time. I do think it is a cultural thing though in those programs. They set the standard so high, not that others don't but they go out and expect to make finals and they go out and know exactly what there job is. They also have great directors that have been through the harder times and that have really well planned out shows and that helps a ton.

[tvlr42m]

We all know the powerhouses (Marcus, Bell, Bowie, Reagan, Coppell, Duncanville, to name a few). More bands have found recent success (Hebron getting the silver medal, Johnson making finals), but can they sustain it?

 

What factors are necessary to create a program that is a perennial powerhouse that not only can be expected to make State, but come close to, if not make finals consistently?

 

I will try to give my 2 cents from the perspective of a parent since I feel we are part of the equation.

 

Strong Middle School Infrastructure for Music - One of the things I noticed is that they did not just teach my child to play their instrument, but to understand and instruct on the music theory first and than addressed the instrument with proper care, handling and simple maintenance.

 

Private Lessons - if you cannot afford, than work with the other students who do get it and learn from what their private lesson teachers provide them.

 

Parental Support of the children, programs and directors (Both at the Middle and High School Level) - As many parents who have the ability to donate their "time" and "resources" is critical. Resources does not mean just money, but also talents. Believe me, I have provided help in areas where I felt I had no ideal what I was doing so talents can be hidden by effort!

 

Practice, Practice, Practice

 

Winning or placing is not the goal, performance excellence is the reason you do this from an individual and ensemle. It shows love for your craft and not the need to be recognized.

 

The children taking personal responsibility for their actions and respecting their student leadership as well as parental leadership.

 

Respect for other winning programs and learning from their successes. I am sure if you interviewed a band director and the kids in their programs, in most cases they are more than willing to provide their insight. This is about humility and not thinking you know the way, the winning directors and kids I have met are full of humility.

 

A system based on competition can thrive as long as everyone understands in our culture of subjectiveness that life is not fair and if you know you did a great job and did "ALL" you could do, than you are successful.

 

I am sure their is much more, I just gave my perspective as a parent.

[Donezo]

It's also about consistently picking material that works for the group. The bands that always make finals have a very recognizable style. I know what a Marcus, Bowie, Coppell, Cedar Park or LD Bell show looks and sounds like. Even when they push themselves in new directions (LD Bell), it is in a style that works for them. It's been fun watching Bell transform from straight up corps style to more avant garde over the last ten years, but it's been a smooth, logical transition. I'm also amazed that Reagan and The Woodlands have more or less maintained a consistent style that works for them even with director changes. I loved Reagan's tribute to their own personal history this year! I'm not sure what a Hebron show looks like, but I think they're still nailing that down. Westlake seems to have found something that consistently works for them, and I bet they stick with it (basically the Marcus formula but a bit less refined and more traditionally marching band-y.)

 

Some former powerhouses definitely had a consistent style that they don't have anymore (Spring, Westfield, Duncanville, Langham Creek.) Some bands that have historically been a bit hit or miss at the elite level seem to vary wildly in what they do from year to year (Haltom, Richland, Berkner, Brazoswood.)

 

This is obviously really vague and fuzzy, but I think knowing what you're good at and sticking with it is important. There is some wiggle room for trying new things, but there isn't a need to reinvent the wheel if what you're doing works.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Donezo

[longhorn2190]

I feel like you are discounting some of the bands here... I know Hebron has been up there fighting for a high spot for quite sometime. I think you have to be careful about bands that have found more recent success. I personally think Hebron has had success and I know Johnson is young but they are going to be a force for a long time.

 

I meant no disrespect to any of the bands I mentioned. I'm just using examples of bands that have achieved levels of success that they have not in the past. I remember Hebron and they were always a band to reckon with for a BOA or UIL finals spot. I'm just wondering if they will continue to perform at the level so that they are not just expected to make finals, but be in the medal hunt.

 

Same goes for CTJ. I'm really impressed since their school was only established in 2008 that they have become one of the top bands in the state in so little time.

 

I'm just interested in the factors that get a band from one level of achievement to a higher one, such as consistently medaling or making finals. To avoid being a "hit-or-miss" band.

[Skippy]

All comments can be summed up in this:

 

Consistency of staff. The longer a team (and head director) work in the same location, the more they can perfect their method and improve upon the success of previous years. In other words, there are no setbacks from year to year. Look at the bands you named and this proves to be the case. In the case of Bell and Duncanville, they have had relatively recent head director changes, however, those directors had worked alongside the previous head and the transition was smooth.

 

My 2 cents.

[clarineticorn]

I think part of what's made Johnson so successful is a staff that always tries to remain positive and students who do the same. Mr. Lipman himself told us many, many times that what set CTJ apart was our attitude. I also seem to recall a poster in his office... "Sometimes, the solution to morale problems is to just fire all the unhappy people."

 

Looking at Marcus, you won't find a more polite group of high school students in all of Texas, or so we all say. Everyone who runs across a Marcus student or parent will come off of that interaction a new Marcus fan -- you can't help but love how nice they are! They obviously have a great attitude, and looking at all the other top groups, the students are all incredibly polite and positive. I would definitely say that the best bands have a lot of cooperation and teamwork, and not a whole lot of cattiness and infighting. I won't say that everyone likes everyone else but at the very least everyone is willing to put up with and work with each other for a cause greater than themselves. Like...winning state!

Edited November 9, 2012 by clarineticorn

[Donezo]

All comments can be summed up in this:

 

Consistency of staff. The longer a team (and head director) work in the same location, the more they can perfect their method and improve upon the success of previous years. In other words, there are no setbacks from year to year. Look at the bands you named and this proves to be the case. In the case of Bell and Duncanville, they have had relatively recent head director changes, however, those directors had worked alongside the previous head and the transition was smooth.

 

My 2 cents.

 

It's odd that some programs still can't survive the regime change even when most of the supporting staff remains. Langham Creek and Poteet are two programs that immediately come to mind that suffered a drastic quality drop after the long time head director left. The Colony maybe also belongs in that group, but I'm not sure exactly what happened after Clardy left. It would be a fascinating management case study to find out what is able to sustain a band after a successful head director leaves, but I don't know what university would give you the dough to do the research!

Edited November 9, 2012 by Donezo

[itsstephenyo]

It's odd that some programs still can't survive the regime change even when most of the supporting staff remains. Langham Creek and Poteet are two programs that immediately come to mind that suffered a drastic quality drop after the long time head director left. The Colony maybe also belongs in that group, but I'm not sure exactly what happened after Clardy left. It would be a fascinating management case study to find out what is able to sustain a band after a successful head director leaves, but I don't know what university would give you the dough to do the research!

 

The Colony split into Hebron, too, I believe. That, along with Clardy leaving soon after was just kind of the end of the road for that era of The Colony.

[takigan]

It's odd that some programs still can't survive the regime change even when most of the supporting staff remains.

 

Depends on what role the head director played in the program. Did he/she do a lot of the teaching and delegate the grunt work to the assistants and other staff, or did the director assume more of the role of administrator and let the rest of the staff do a lot of the teaching? Maybe the real power behind the throne was one or two extremely talented assistants that basically ran everything while the head director took it upon themselves to make things as easy for them as possible. Maybe they saw the marching and concert programs as 2 separate entities and divided the work load? I think for many programs that retain their competitive edge after the head leaves....the REAL head director for the group in question is in fact still at the school, so nothing really changes as a result. And for programs that essentially collapse after the head leaves, despite having a pretty expansive staff...maybe the guy was a great teacher who had a crappy eye for hiring assistants.

[Statebound]

The Colony split into Hebron, too, I believe.

I didn't know that--interesting.

 

I just checked the last 4 UIL 5A constests and Hebron has gone from state qualifier, to 10 place, to 6th place, to 2nd place. That's basically the definition of a trend and "Building a culture of winning"

 

I also just heard from a Hebron person that they are looking at Grand Nats next year. I don't necessarily know if that is their cup of tea but it would be a logical next step.