Encourage Students To Serve

One of the many blessings we have as band directors is the opportunity to create long-lasting, trusting relationships with students. Whether we realize it or not, by seeing them every school day for years at a time, we play an outsized role in many of their lives, and it is by our encouragement and example that they can grow and flourish as musicians and people of high character.

While the pandemic has challenged the ability of many of us to connect with our students in the usual ways, there will eventually come a time after vaccines are widely administered and the WHO declares an end to the pandemic when we’re finally back to ‘normal.’ And how wonderful will that day be!

When normal returns, our students will be hungry for reconnection in tangible, in-the-same-room, and consistent ways, and they will look to us to help them find their footing again. Of course, at the very top of this list is quality, contemporaneous rehearsal and performance. Just putting everyone in the same room, side-by-side, creating music will go a long way to heal all our souls.

Among other experiences lost during online learning scenarios and the restrictions imposed by the pandemic are service opportunities. We teachers are all about serving our students, and the vast majority of our students enjoy serving their band programs. I’ve spoken to many people around the country who believe as I do that second only to developing appreciative and educated musicians is developing young people of exceptional character. I know of no faster way to develop character than through selfless service to others.

Our students want to help their music program and their teachers be successful, but not all students know how to best make a difference. Further, not all music teachers know how to harness the enthusiasm sitting in front of them, and once things are back to normal, there will certainly be an abundance of enthusiasm and excitement to tap into!

Service is ‘doing,’ and it takes many forms. Communication is one form of service that is perhaps overlooked. Writing a well-timed and/or well-intentioned letter or email can elevate, support, and serve. Here are a few ways students can serve music programs through writing:

Students could...

• Write an email or handwritten note of gratitude, encouragement, and/or support to their director (either current or past)
• Write an email or handwritten note to their principal, school board, and/or superintendent talking about the band and what it means to them
• Write a handwritten note of gratitude, compliment, or encouragement to another student in the ensemble, and consider not signing it.
• Start a Compliment Campaign. This can be as easy as creating a brief google form where students can go to leave positive notes for peers. Directors would have access and would share compliments (either publicly or privately) every so often.
• Write a note of gratitude to the boosters or music parent association. Align it with the end of major events or seasons.
• Write a letter to the editor for their school or community newspaper talking about the benefits of music and the quality experience they’re getting in your music program.
• Organize a letter writing campaign to community leaders stressing the importance of music education during Music in Our Schools Month (March)

Some of the items below are commonly done in band programs, but there may be some new ideas here for you. :

• File music and organize the music library
• Clean and refresh trophy cases
• Alternatively, create a trophy case display highlighting your program’s activities that doesn’t include trophies
• If your area has an unused bulletin board, create a “pride wall” or a “spirit display” or a program “vision board.”
• Tidy the perimeter of the music room
• Straighten chairs and stands before or after rehearsals
• Create positive and inspiring posters and plaster the walls with them
• Decorate the music hall for whatever season might be upon you

Encouraging poster projects can elevate your band room’s positive vibe. This was done as a part of our band leadership application process a few years ago, and still hangs today!

Students can also be encouraged to serve each other:

• Organize a sectional
• Mentor underclassmen or students in younger grades
• Start a book study
• Put together a small ensemble and play for others
• Make a recruitment video or positive music informational flyer for younger grades
• Lead a program culture focus group and present discussion findings to the director
• Teach music lessons to young musicians
• Encourage random acts of kindness

As the music teacher, your efforts to harness this enthusiasm, facilitate service, and relate a sense of gratitude will pay off big time. It’s been said that music is about “WE” not “ME.” Going the extra mile to make it easier for our students to serve their (and your) program creates a thrilling synergy, deeper trust, and fuller commitment. In my band program, when we began encouraging and expanding service opportunities, we discovered untapped potential and previously unrecognized future leaders. It is exciting!

Suggestions for teachers to facilitate student service:

• Create a Leadership Team . Rather than limiting the team to the top 10% with “leadership initiative,” open it to anyone who wishes to serve the program, school, and community. (Consider these students for “leadership” seminars and trainings, too. You won’t find the gold unless you mine for it!)
• Facilitate student meetings to solicit input on program direction and program culture. Let your students know their voices matter.
• Let students know you want help. Make dedicated bulletin board or whiteboard space for a request for help. Simply writing “12/15/20: Band work to do. See Mr. G.” is all you need.
• Determine what is negotiable. There are details to work out when getting many of these things off the ground. Students will feel a sense of ownership and will take initiative in ways they haven’t before. Ultimately, it’s your program, and you answer to your administration. You are the gatekeeper. Are hallway decorations ok with you? With the custodians? Are student-led sectionals ok with you? With your administration? Do you want to give students title/author ideas for a book study, or are you ok with whatever they choose? Will your program buy the materials?

Let go. Band directors can be control freaks, present company included. Decide what you can tolerate, and let the kids have at it. Is your music library a disaster but you don’t have the time or energy to put it right? If there are kids who geek out on creating order from chaos (and we all have them), why not give them instructions and let them go to town without worrying about whether they put the horn parts after the trumpet parts?

Mailed gratitude postcards are an incredibly impactful gesture for students. I “borrowed” this idea from Ankeny High School, Ankeny, IA, Joel Poppen and Jen Williams, directors.

• Remember the gratitude. Often, a simple verbal expression of gratitude or an email can be enough. Yet, a handwritten note either mailed home or handed out before or after class can have a profound impact. To illustrate: High fives are my thing. About four years ago over spring break, inspired by another district’s use of gratitude postcards, I created my own. The front is a bold, simple message of gratitude, and the back has room to write a few sentences. Since then, I’ve sent hundreds to thank students for going above and beyond in big and small ways, and ever since I saw one on a senior’s graduation party pride and photo display, I take the power of these seriously!

Band directors have an outsized role in the lives of many young people. We are with them for many years through both challenging and exhilarating times. We celebrate and commiserate together, and through it all, build enduring relationships. When the pandemic ends and ‘normal’ returns, my hope is that you harness the enthusiasm for reconnection and the trust your students have in you to push for greater musical appreciation and achievement and for greater service to each other and your community.