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UIL 5A Area D 2021


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Also what was the point of raising these issues in this area specifically? Obviously these issues are overarching in the entire country, why are we singling out Area D?

How do you think those Dripping Springs students who come out on Saturdays to learn their dots without being asked to feel when their hard work is simply tossed up to being wealthy? How do you think those Seguin students feel when they see you imply they’ll never be successful because of their economic status?

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4 hours ago, MarimbaMan said:

I don't think that anyone is doubting the abilities or talents of the kids that compete at these high schools, or the hard work that they put in. Additionally, no one is arguing that wealth is the single determining factor in a band's success. However, wealth certainly plays a role in how these bands are able to operate. By dismissing this disparity, you are neglecting the economic imbalance that impacts the band community. As a current student that competes, I have witnessed this imbalance firsthand.

Nobody is neglecting wealth as factor. Nobody is dismissing it. The issue comes when you act like others are ignoring it when they make the counterclaim that it doesn’t all chalk up to that.

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8 hours ago, Time Warp said:

I’m not sure what you want these bands to do.

Do you want their parents to stop helping out their children's band program altogether because not everyone has access to parents that can help out?

Do you want these bands to stop providing students with individualized private lessons to students who can afford them?

This post isn’t constructive in any way, it’s just tearing down hand programs with no aim or reason. Your comment about these things being inappropriate in a public school setting confuses me a lot. Texas is known for excessive bells and whistles in many many many aspects of its high school activities regardless of the wealth disparity in the state. Look at these high schools gigantic football stadiums as an example, would you consider these also inappropriate in a public school setting? This comment is really confusing and just feels aimless and non-constructive at all.

Again, what is the point of this post? What are you gaining other than testing programs down? You forget these advantages mean nothing unless programs genuinely put in effort. Look at Lake Travis for example, they’ve been perennially known for being “That Rich School” but their marching success didn’t come until 2018 when they actually genuinely started funelling resources into the band program and upped the motivation in the program. Without hard work and dedication any monetary advantage is largely moot.

Look at Roma, by your very own comments they should not be able to compete with the other bands. After all they are at a rate of 82% of their students living in economically disadvantaged conditions and they still work hard as heck to fundraise, they still work hard as heck to provide the best opportunities for their students and they still succeed. Bands at a monetary disadvantage are not perpetually trapped in the shadows.

Perfect response, BRAVO!

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55 minutes ago, trombonemom72 said:

What exactly did I say about band kids? Please show me in my initial post what I said about band kids. 

I understand where you're coming from and you didn't call out the kids. I believe the reaction is primarily to the following statement which was pointed and negative toward the CTJ program:

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"We were completely disgusted by the double grand pianos in the CTJ show at TMC (that school is 17% economically disadvantaged) when other schools just can't compete with those bells and whistles (which are inappropriate in a public school setting anyway, IMHO)."

Even if not the intent, this ends up coming off as a knock on the kids since it's the program as a whole and usage of the word "disgusted" is very negative. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the resources being used and how they manifest in the design of shows but it's going to be a more constructive conversation if it avoids the negativity. 

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1 hour ago, lhbenlee said:

I understand where you're coming from and you didn't call out the kids. I believe the reaction is primarily to the following statement which was pointed and negative toward the CTJ program:

Even if not the intent, this ends up coming off as a knock on the kids since it's the program as a whole and usage of the word "disgusted" is very negative. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the resources being used and how they manifest in the design of shows but it's going to be a more constructive conversation if it avoids the negativity. 

That's fair. The issue transcends any one school. And not so much "disgusted" as frustrated, but at the system but definitely no ill will toward the kids at all, ever.

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I just want to add that props are not the end all be all for marching band shows. Lots of schools like to have them because it just fits the style of their productions, and CTJ is one of those schools. But look at Ronald Reagan. They've been one of I would argue the top 5 bands in the COUNTRY the past several years, yet in their shows aside from some panels at the front they have zero props. Judges are not so easily swayed that some props will elevate a show's score or ranking just for existing. I know it can be discouraging to see some of them and think how can we compete with bands like that, but I promise you that hard work and dedication is all that's needed to make a show and its performers shine.

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21 hours ago, trombonemom72 said:

What exactly did I say about band kids? Please show me in my initial post what I said about band kids. 

It just REALLY rubbed me the wrong way for your second post ever in the forum to be one that denigrates the CTJ program specifically. Saying you were “disgusted” with their piano props didn’t sit well with me.  I apologize if you felt that I was too harsh but I know that literally thousands of band kids read this forum and I think we all need to keep that in mind when we are posting our thoughts and feelings here. 

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 marching band is a relatively new activity in the grand scheme of things. considering for dozens of socioeconomic, geographical, and political variables, it's really impossible to have everyone in the same playing field. especially here in Texas where funding is usually more athletics-centric; however, marching band in Texas is special and has been rapidly developing over the last few decades into a world class performance activity. this talk about overly decorated shows is just redundant. man, i want yall to search up Stephen F. Austin (Sugarland) 2016 show. the guard didn't even have flags and still placed in the top half of 6A. end of the day, control what you can control, because what else are you going to do?

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