Area I 2018

[Asaiah]

Hitchens's razor, no one here needs to bother disproving baseless rumors.

[jcbg]

Hitchens's razor, no one here needs to bother disproving baseless rumors.

I agree. If there is no evidence either direction there is no point in arguing about it.

[makebeats]

some of these rumours came directly from Katy band students

[Danpod]

I have not heard anything about any one getting fired or a program using ineligible students. I deal with these rumors every single year. I'm sorry but this will need a better source than, "Some band mates told me."

[MarchingBandNerd]

Everyone I’ve talked to about the judges possibly being fired or that some students marching were ineligible have said it’s just a rumor. Like what jetliner and Danpod said, it apparently shows up every year when scores don’t reflect what was predicted.

[Astros]

Everyone I’ve talked to about the judges possibly being fired or that some students marching were ineligible have said it’s just a rumor. Like what jetliner and Danpod said, it apparently shows up every year when scores don’t reflect what was predicted.

Who knows what happened but when the Area's first and second band finish 32nd and 34th out of 41 bands at State something funky was going on. Resume burying your head in the the sand!

[AppleDonald]

Who knows what happened but when the Area's first and second band finish 32nd and 34th out of 41 bands at State something funky was going on. Resume burying your head in the the sand!

 

So just because you didn't get what you want, you're saying it's the judges' fault? Judging is extremely subjective, and you can't do anything about that. I highly doubt any of the judges were "corrupt". That's just the nature of marching band.

[vincentlee1220]

Not to mention that the Areas are definitely not evenly balanced with each other (for better or worse). Results at Area have little bearing on state in light of this fact, since the Area champion may be competing with bands at state they haven't even competed with all season. In a weaker area, taking the championship can definitely result in a finish in the middle of state prelims, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

[makebeats]

Not to mention that the Areas are definitely not evenly balanced with each other (for better or worse). Results at Area have little bearing on state in light of this fact, since the Area champion may be competing with bands at state they haven't even competed with all season. In a weaker area, taking the championship can definitely result in a finish in the middle of state prelims, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

i agree completely, but it's kind of odd when the area 1st and 2nd place finishers ( 32nd and 34th) at state finish significantly below the area 3rd and 5th place finishers (20th and 23rd). Yeah, the areas may not be balanced, but shouldn't the top bands in the area have placed higher than Seven Lakes and Cy- Fair by even a small margin at state, rather than SL and CF placing much higher?

 

Just saying, that sure looks like "something funky was going on"

[LostChoirGuy]

Not necessarily. At a contest like state where suddenly everything is larger scale it is not uncommon for bands to change up their ordering. For instance, in area band 1 may have been slightly better than band 2 at marching and much worse at music, but there weren't enough competitors for the difference in music abilities to be noticeable. Throw in tons of other bands and it becomes more noticeable. Plus 41 bands is a lot to have to judge and rank, so those lower rankings arent always exactly accurate anyways. Their goal is to get the correct finalists in finals. I think 20-34 is relatively close enough that it isn't enough to worry too much about and a single good area run and favorable circumstances could have led to the differences in placement between area and state.

[Astros]

 

So just because you didn't get what you want, you're saying it's the judges' fault? Judging is extremely subjective, and you can't do anything about that. I highly doubt any of the judges were "corrupt". That's just the nature of marching band.

Sure you selling swamp land too?

[Danpod]

Who knows what happened but when the Area's first and second band finish 32nd and 34th out of 41 bands at State something funky was going on. Resume burying your head in the the sand!

 

Area G had all of its programs finish 34th or lower.  By your logic, Area G should have a massive investigation.  Results like we experienced on Monday are not all that uncommon.  The system definitely needs some work and there are plenty of solutions to explore/talk about.

 

Congratulations to everyone who competed yesterday!!  I loved your performances and I hope you all had a good time at The Alamodome!

[TubaMomof1]

It's just a shame that Houston area bands don't seem to place higher at state (other than one of course). Very difficult when 3 wealthy districts have 8 spots in finals.

[TWHSParent]

It's just a shame that Houston area bands don't seem to place higher at state (other than one of course). Very difficult when 3 wealthy districts have 8 spots in finals.

 

Houston area bands were 9th, 14th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, and 35th (apologies if I missed anyone). The 2 LISD's and the NEISD are the strongest 6A districts in the state, with KISD and CISD perhaps a step or so behind. This means the Houston districts need to support the competitive aspect of Marching Band more than the "football" aspect. Frankly band is about band, not about football (maybe once upon a time 80 or so years ago it was different), and until some of the stick in the mud administrators in Houston either change their views (Ha!) or move on, it will remain this way. I honestly don't know how we are able to compete at the level we do with such old mindsets still entrenched in various parts of our district. This is, of course, my opinion. I'll also state my opinion on Houston in general - it remains a "good ole boy, just get er done, I don't have to follow no rules, darn the consequences" culture from the oil business that I find distasteful. This permeates almost everything on the political and administrative level throughout the region. Ok, so now that I've put out there what I really think I probably need to go into hiding ....

[takigan]

They're scattered.   12th, 14th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, & 35th.  There's just no one in the finals block.  The Woodlands was in finals last cycle and North Shore missed it by one.

Edit: Beat me to it, lol. Oh wait, 12 finalists this year....duh (and TWHS jumped to 9th in finals).

[Rudedog34]

Houston area bands were 9th, 14th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, and 35th (apologies if I missed anyone). The 2 LISD's and the NEISD are the strongest 6A districts in the state, with KISD and CISD perhaps a step or so behind. This means the Houston districts need to support the competitive aspect of Marching Band more than the "football" aspect. Frankly band is about band, not about football (maybe once upon a time 80 or so years ago it was different), and until some of the stick in the mud administrators in Houston either change their views (Ha!) or move on, it will remain this way. I honestly don't know how we are able to compete at the level we do with such old mindsets still entrenched in various parts of our district. This is, of course, my opinion. I'll also state my opinion on Houston in general - it remains a "good ole boy, just get er done, I don't have to follow no rules, darn the consequences" culture from the oil business that I find distasteful. This permeates almost everything on the political and administrative level throughout the region. Ok, so now that I've put out there what I really think I probably need to go into hiding ....

I can assure you, you're not the only one out there who feels this.

[principalagent]

North Shore was also in finals last cycle!

 

I think Houston made huge strides this season even if the results don’t fully bear that statement out. Seven Lakes, Cy-Fair, Pearland and Oak Ridge are all clearly surging. JET and TWCP and North Shore (on a UIL perspective) are still maintaining. Friendswood might settle into something good with new staff.

 

Sometimes these things are cyclical. The day when Spring, Westfield, and Langham Creek completely ran band in Texas with some support from Pearland and Dickinson and later support from The Woodlands and SFA wasn’t all that long ago. I think next season will be really telling.

[takigan]

Cy-Fair ISD also admittedly has an extremely bizarre ethos when it comes to band that you wouldn't expect to find in such a large cosmopolitan district that definitely doesn't exist in more successful places.  Like despite the fact that they have over 200 private lesson teachers, none of them are allowed to teach lessons on campus during the school day. .  Their clinician network is also still very old school (though Austin's used to be too until recently).  Region 23/27 (Katy/Cy-Fair) also has less strict All-region band standards than Region 9 (and honestly Austin too, if they haven't lowered the standard since I was there)

Also oil money (Houston) and tech money (Austin/DFW) produce very different types of kids.

[TubaMomof1]

Houston area bands were 9th, 14th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, and 35th (apologies if I missed anyone). The 2 LISD's and the NEISD are the strongest 6A districts in the state, with KISD and CISD perhaps a step or so behind. This means the Houston districts need to support the competitive aspect of Marching Band more than the "football" aspect. Frankly band is about band, not about football (maybe once upon a time 80 or so years ago it was different), and until some of the stick in the mud administrators in Houston either change their views (Ha!) or move on, it will remain this way. I honestly don't know how we are able to compete at the level we do with such old mindsets still entrenched in various parts of our district. This is, of course, my opinion. I'll also state my opinion on Houston in general - it remains a "good ole boy, just get er done, I don't have to follow no rules, darn the consequences" culture from the oil business that I find distasteful. This permeates almost everything on the political and administrative level throughout the region. Ok, so now that I've put out there what I really think I probably need to go into hiding ....

Not in our district.  There are too many rules that restrict any sort of fundraising efforts, trucks we can have, days missed from school, etc.

[TubaMomof1]

Cy-Fair ISD also admittedly has an extremely bizarre ethos when it comes to band that you wouldn't expect to find in such a large cosmopolitan district that definitely doesn't exist in more successful places.  Like despite the fact that they have over 200 private lesson teachers, none of them are allowed to teach lessons on campus during the school day. .  Their clinician network is also still very old school (though Austin's used to be too until recently).  Region 23/27 (Katy/Cy-Fair) also has less strict All-region band standards than Region 9 (and honestly Austin too, if they haven't lowered the standard since I was there)

 

Also oil money (Houston) and tech money (Austin/DFW) produce very different types of kids.

This for sure but I'm not sure about the oil money comment-not many kids I'm know in the Houston area are from oil money.

[El Gato_01]

On the topic from pg 7, re: area results in comparison to state placements 

 

Band Rank |  Area Rank| State Prelims Rank| New Area Rank

Area A:

Pebble Hills| 1 |  37 | 1

Montwood  | 2 |  39 | 2

 

Area B:

Waxahachie | 1| 10 | 2

Keller           | 2 | 7  | 1 

Coppell       | 3 | 15 | 3

Prosper       | 4 | 16 | 4

Duncanville | 5 | 29 | 5

 

Area C:

Flower Mound | 1 | 1   | 1

Hebron            | 2 | 5   | 2

Marcus .          | 3 | 9   | 3

John Horn       | 4 | 22 | 4

Rockwall         | 5 | 30 | 5

 

Area D:

Reagan           | 1 |  6  | 2

Bowie             | 2 |  17 | 4

CT Johnson    | 3 |  4   | 1

Hendrickson   | 4 |  25 | 5

Cedar Ridge   | 5 |  11 | 3

 

Area E:

Pearland       | 1 | 24 | 2

Brazoswood | 2 | 28 | 3

Dawson        | 3 | 18 | 1

Austin           | 4 | 31 | 4

 

Area F:

Woodlands       | 1 | 12 | 1

Oak Ridge        | 2 | 14 | 2

North Shore     | 3 | 19 | 3

Woodlands CP | 4 | 26 | 4

 

Area G:

United       | 1 | 34 | 1

Alexander | 2 | 38 | 3

Hanna       | 3 | 36 | 2

PSJA         | 4 | 41| 5

Harlingen  | 5 | 40 | 4

 

Area H

Vista Ridge | 1 | 2   | 1

Vandegrift   | 2 | 3   | 2

Westlake     | 3 | 21 | 4

Leander      | 4 | 8   | 3

 

Area I

Katy                | 1 | 32 | 3

Jersey Village | 2 | 33  | 4

Seven Lakes   | 3 | 20 | 1

Cy Fair .          | 4 | 23 | 2

Taylor              | 5 | 35 | 5

 

The argument that Area I is any different than the other areas in how they placed from each round doesn't really hold weight as evidenced by the fact that Areas B, D, E, and H all flipped around from the two rounds. So were the judges flawed in those areas too? 

 

Fact is that there are many contributing factors to these results, most notably the fact that you had different judging panels at area than state (a reason why I thought the two panel system at BOA prelims was flawed). Then you have to take into account that some bands just had different level of performances on those two Saturdays.  Some bands also maybe rehearsed better within the week of the two contests. And finally you have performance order at the state which will naturally have an effect on how some of the bands are scored. 

 

In short, many reasons as to why the shuffling around of area results to how those bands then placed within their area at the state contest.

[TWHSParent]

Not in our district.  There are too many rules that restrict any sort of fundraising efforts, trucks we can have, days missed from school, etc.

 

And of course if you are the football team, most of those go away or are relaxed, and you can even get truly serious corporate sponsors too! If districts are unable or unwilling to fund the music programs appropriately, then these restrictions on fundraising make no sense - let the programs fundraise (within whatever the law allows for non-profits) to support their needs.

 

I'm curious about any rules against donations to a particular program. If a group of parents created an unofficial band booster group (call it something like "<community X> music appreciation organization" and register as a non-profit) and could specifically donate to the needs of the music program would this be a way to move forward (via anonymous donations)? Without reading the rules that are in place I have no idea, but an official band booster group would be hamstrung by the rules of the district.

 

I dunno what the answer is, but I do know that the marching band community is growing, and wielding more influence year by year. Sometimes we have to let the administrators know this.

[Samuel Culper]

Cy-Fair ISD also admittedly has an extremely bizarre ethos when it comes to band that you wouldn't expect to find in such a large cosmopolitan district that definitely doesn't exist in more successful places.  Like despite the fact that they have over 200 private lesson teachers, none of them are allowed to teach lessons on campus during the school day. .  Their clinician network is also still very old school (though Austin's used to be too until recently).  Region 23/27 (Katy/Cy-Fair) also has less strict All-region band standards than Region 9 (and honestly Austin too, if they haven't lowered the standard since I was there)

 

Also oil money (Houston) and tech money (Austin/DFW) produce very different types of kids.

 

Cy-Fair was the district I immediately thought about when reading the comments about Houston area schools struggling to compete.  Their demographics are similar to Leander ISD.

 

I am astounded at the private lessons policy.  That seems like a big indicator of where the district's head is with regards to music education.  I know that at Vista Ridge our directors go out of their way to heap praise on the middle school directors and private lessons instructors as being vital to the development of our students' musicianship. 

 

I recently stumbled across a YouTube video of one of the Cy schools from Area this year.  I know the school to be in a pretty affluent area and I was kinda dumbfounded at how old school (and unimaginative, frankly) the drill was.  The band has large numbers, so the participation and interest are there. 

 

It feels like an area where the kids are thirsty for more, but the administration is not letting it happen.

[jmatthews]

Cy-Fair ISD also admittedly has an extremely bizarre ethos when it comes to band that you wouldn't expect to find in such a large cosmopolitan district that definitely doesn't exist in more successful places.  Like despite the fact that they have over 200 private lesson teachers, none of them are allowed to teach lessons on campus during the school day. .  Their clinician network is also still very old school (though Austin's used to be too until recently).  Region 23/27 (Katy/Cy-Fair) also has less strict All-region band standards than Region 9 (and honestly Austin too, if they haven't lowered the standard since I was there)

 

Also oil money (Houston) and tech money (Austin/DFW) produce very different types of kids.

 

I don't think the kids are all that different, and you do have tech on the south (NASA) side of Houston where Dawson, Pearland, Friendswood, Clear Brook, Dickinson, and North Shore are. My guess is that there is more ability to start from scratch in the Austin area, where a lot of the schools are new. The administrations there and in places like Lewisville ISD are also more willing to reach out to find directors that will help them reach the next level. The schools in Houston seem to pick directors from schools in the area. That's not to insult those directors, who are very good, but it is good to have a diversity of teaching. In my opinion, the creative process at these schools just moves slower. 

[TubaMomof1]

Cy-Fair was the district I immediately thought about when reading the comments about Houston area schools struggling to compete.  Their demographics are similar to Leander ISD.

 

I am astounded at the private lessons policy.  That seems like a big indicator of where the district's head is with regards to music education.  I know that at Vista Ridge our directors go out of their way to heap praise on the middle school directors and private lessons instructors as being vital to the development of our students' musicianship. 

 

I recently stumbled across a YouTube video of one of the Cy schools from Area this year.  I know the school to be in a pretty affluent area and I was kinda dumbfounded at how old school (and unimaginative, frankly) the drill was.  The band has large numbers, so the participation and interest are there. 

 

It feels like an area where the kids are thirsty for more, but the administration is not letting it happen.

This is absolutely spot on and very frustrating to both students and parents.