
{"id":23480,"date":"2012-02-09T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=23480"},"modified":"2012-02-08T16:10:08","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T21:10:08","slug":"letter-keep-marching-mandatory-for-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/02\/09\/letter-keep-marching-mandatory-for-band\/","title":{"rendered":"LETTER: Keep marching mandatory for band"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A request to drop the mandatory marching requirement for band at Carrboro and Chapel Hill high schools is under consideration. The concern is that the marching requirement discourages some students from taking band classes. Dropping the requirement is a greater concern to many more students.<\/p>\n<p>Most families are wary at first of what will be required of them in terms of time commitment and money. They realize a vast return on that investment, but students will tell you that without the mandatory marching requirement, they probably wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have given it the first try. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no marching requirement at East. Marching band isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t offered there.<\/p>\n<p>Why is marching band important to a school community? Social barriers that exist in hallways disappear when students spend time together in a different context, like band camp and competitions. Everybody looks geeky in a band uniform. When assembled on a field, in formation, in tune and in step, suddenly everybody looks really cool.<\/p>\n<p>There already exists the opt-out of the marching requirement if a student participates in a fall sport. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a given that a sports team is going to require mandatory practices and appearances at games. To be successful as a team, that is what it takes from each individual on the team. A strong marching program is no different. Marching band needs at least 70 students to make a strong presence on the field.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when our children are spending most of their free time in sedentary isolation in front of a screen, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it a good idea to promote a healthy alternative? Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s expand their repertoire. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s encourage them to do more than sit in a class and learn a few pieces for the quarterly stage performance so they can check band off a list. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teach them what being part of a team requires. For those who prefer to hit a bass drum rather than take a tackle, marching band serves that purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Our youngest child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience with the Marching Tiger Band and our eldest child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience on CHHS sports teams were equal in terms of demands on time and in terms of expense. What they learned from their experiences was worth every minute on the field, every bus ride to a competition, every hour spent raising money working at the PTA Thrift Shop or a UNC ball game and every dime that came out of pocket. <\/p>\n<p>Marching band deserves administration\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full endorsement. To thrive, it demands continued support of the marching requirement.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cindy Parks<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Chapel Hill<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A request to drop the mandatory marching requirement for band at Carrboro and Chapel Hill high schools is under consideration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23480"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23484,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23480\/revisions\/23484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}