GETTING STUDENTS IN THE SEATS...
As a first year teacher, I can recall the excitement of my first day teaching middle school and the many aspects of teaching that I was so ready to share. What I do not recall on that first day is thinking about where the 112 beginners who were very anxiously smiling back at me had come from, or how they had found their way into my band room. When I arrived in late June, my roster was already set and my concern certainly wasn’t how they ended up there, but how to get their instruments together, start learning music and not have a sense of chaos surround us. It wasn’t until around February that I was ‘caught up’ enough that I began considering what could have possibly drawn these students to the band program and a sudden worry encompassed me as I became concerned that my number of students would plummet from 112 to Zero! I needed a plan and not just any plan but a plan for success.
Throughout the ten years that I taught middle school band, I found that the most important aspect of recruiting is to know that it is ever changing, there is no clear- cut formula that I can give you to recruitment. I taught at two schools in my career, however, the methods that I used to ‘get students in the seats’ were much more than two. Each year presented a new challenge and with that challenge I had to keep an open mind and adjust. I honestly do not recall doing the same thing two years in a row.
In an effort to help you formulate a plan and explore ideas, I would like to share some things that worked for me. Some of them I used alone, some in conjunction with others and some never again. However, any of these could work for you in your beginning band program alone, combined or in addition to what you already do, it just depends on your situation.
1. Tradition!
If you find yourself in this situation, congratulations! You have won the recruitment lottery! This is very hard to establish and often times is something from which you benefit or that you build for the next person. It is in no way instant.
I discovered my first year teaching that I was in a very fortunate situation; I had unknowingly entered a program that had a tradition of being in the band. The high school director went to school there, had been teaching there for 27 years, the parents all had him in band. The parents simply signed their students up for band, simple as that. Numbers depended on how many students had parents that were in the band that year and the
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numbers were always fine and not a concern. As a first year teacher this created a situation that was quite easy, but also very misleading.
Unlike number One on the list, the remainder of my career was not the same. My second teaching experience gave me the opportunity to try anything and everything to ‘get students in the seats’.
2. Being the ‘Face’ of your program. Students certainly don’t know who you are just because you direct the band. If they know your name, they still don’t know YOU. They need to see for themselves that you are not the villain that they have heard about from the disgruntled 7th grader who you had to tell to be quiet in class yesterday. The same 7th grade student who sits by them on the hot school bus in the afternoon and shares stories to make them look like the ‘big bad 7th grader’ who is in charge of it all, including your band class. Yes, this does affect your recruiting? It DOES! Incoming students need to see that you are human and friendly and genuinely eager to have them in your class to learn. This has to be done before they ever sign up for band and is more effective if it is more than a one-time thing. I know, we all can attest to busy schedules, hours teaching, no time, and the like, but this is something we must simply find the time to do. When you walk into your feeder elementary school, the students should know who you are. I found that this is fairly easy once you have students in the band with little brothers and sisters. A simply “how are you”, goes a long way. If you happen to find out the little brother is in baseball and you ask about the most recent game. You are instantly an all-knowing psychic hero! How else could you have known? Students talk to each other, but often forget that adults do too, use it to your advantage. Making students feel important is a sure way to get them interested in your band program.
3. Selling the program.
a. Making a website or a band blog can be very beneficial to your program. No money, no problem! There are several free blogs and websites for teachers that you can find through a simple Google search. One of my favorites that is easy to use and update is
www.blogger.com. You can likely get a page on your schools website as well, just be sure you are up to date on internet policies concerning names, pictures and such. b. Communicate with your feeder school and your principal about setting up a way to talk with the students and show them a recruitment video that highlights your program. If you have the
by Danielle Todd
resources, you may even consider making copies of the video for everyone or linking it to your website so that students and parents can view it on their own. The elementary school may also be willing to post it for you on their site as well. However, it is very important that you do not let posting this video to a site serve as your only source of showing this video. The likelihood of every student watching your video is not very high, plan to schedule a viewing time at the school where you can be present and answer questions.
4. Phone calls
As many directors do, after 4 years of teaching, I moved on to a new adventure at another school. During the first summer at my ‘new’ job, I was given a very SHORT roster for my 7th grade beginning band class. Panic set in and I did all that I knew I could do... I picked up the phone! My best advice if using this method is to have a list of students and numbers and document each call on the same sheet, preferably beside the students name and information. By documenting this you can save yourself time and embarrassment. Example 1: April 10 – 1:00 pm - Called Mr. and Mrs. Jones, left message. Example 2: April 10 – 2:00 pm - Called Mrs. Smith, she does not want Mark in band. a. Teachers can access a phone list quite easily from the front office. If it is summer and the schools have not switched information in the computer, you may have to go to each elementary feeder school or the central office to obtain this list. But it is there; don’t let them tell you otherwise! And, it is very helpful. When I panicked and needed numbers, I took a phone list and called every incoming 7th grade parent. Sure, there were wrong numbers, disgruntled people who did not want their child to be in band, to which I smiled and replied “Thank you, if you change your mind, we would love to have him”, but ultimately, I was able to build a band this way. b. Not enough time? Too many students? Consider splitting the student phone lists and having reputable parents help with the calls, for instance, the band booster president. If doing this, it is best to provide a script for the person calling with appropriate responses to a parent who wants their child to join band and for a parent who does not. I would also recommend having the parents come to the school to do this task if possible. By doing so, you are still involved in the process. c. Leave a message! Not everyone checks messages and those that do may not call you back, but it will at least get them to thinking. However, don’t wait to hear from them to call
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