West Johnston Band Parents

I just wanted to take a minute and welcome the new parents to the school and to pass on a little info...

My child has graduated, and she really enjoyed her time in the band. Although I do think it took away from her studies a little, she had a lot of fun and got to do some very cool things. One of my neighbors has a child just starting band and I guess the WJ Band Parents Collection Agency (Band Parents Association) had their first meeting last night. My neighbor is concerned that they will not be able to afford the outrageous $950.00 per student the BPA tells you you have to pay. Well let me let you new parents in on a secret that the BPA doesn't want you to know....

You DO NOT have to pay the money for your child to be in the band! A couple of years ago I was unemployed and my child began receiving subtle "hints" from the BPA that we needed to pay so she could go on trips with the rest of the band. I went to Mr. Britt (who does a fantastic job!) and explained the situation. He told me that NO CHILD would be excluded from the band because the parents couldn't pay the "Fair Share". The BPA is very good at making it seem that you have to pay the $950.00 for your child to be in band, BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE! Mr. Britt told me that the BPA is a completely seperate entity from the band and that a child would NEVER be asked to leave due to their inability to pay a BOOSTER CLUB.

Keep in mind, being a band parent does not obligate you to join the BPA OR pay the BPA $950.00. that's right, you are not paying the BAND $950.00, you are paying the BAND PARENTS ASSOCIATIOn the money. They are strictly a booster club, and if you don't want to join you don't have to. I know a man down the street that took his child out of band a couple of years ago after receiving phone calls from the BPA telling him "Well, if you can't afford to support your child then maybe they shouldn't be going on these trips."

I obviosly have my own opinion about the BPA, but I'll keep it to myself for now. The bottom line is this: PLEASE do not take your child out of band because you can't afford to pay a BOOSTER CLUB.

 

Awww, I can feel the love. :mrgreen:

 

Where I come from they spend that on high school football not the band. Glad to see our tax dollars are hard at work and the parents that can not afford too or do not want to pay the $950 payment still will see there children in the band.

 

Here is also a little advice. Save your 950 dollars and save your child from being part of the laughing stock of the high school.. yea so they win a bunch of stuff, but trust me to the students at the school they are still seen as the band geeks.

 

Did I say I was calling them those names.. somehow I cant find where I typed that. I am just saying on many occasions when I have been up there I see what goes on. So never did I ounce call a band member a band geek I did say that is what students are calling them. But I have personally seen what it has done to some children in the band, not saying that is how all will take it. I was just saying what goes down inside the doors of the school. Call me what you will but I was just voicing my opinion which is what I thought this place was for but maybe I was wrong.

 

well I don't know how you all see it but take it as you will, I didn't mean to come off as some jerk or as a name calling band bashing idiot or did it in any way that seemed non-Christian then I apologize but I thought I was just letting parents know what really goes on, So my bad if I came of as some inconsiderate punk.

 

You don't think that sounds like a sarcastic jerk? :roll:

 

You can be involved (as a parent) a lot or not at all, the $950 is not a fee, it's just the 'fair share' amount of what it costs to be a part of the band (from uniforms, transportation, competitions, instrument supplementation, sheet music and additional instructors, none of which is paid for by the school system). Pay what you can and don't stress over the rest...Mr Britt and Mr Duffy are GREAT about reinforcing that NO child will be asked to leave, due to money. I had a reasonably good high school experience, and feel no need to re-live it, so I'm letting my kid enjoy the band experience, and he is...it has given him focus, self confidence and drive and it has been great for his character development. I went into this gritting my teeth and dragging my heels because the BPA can come across a little fanatical...it's all right...they make up for my reticence and it benefits the kids (like I said...I'm not re-living high school)... Anyhow, my kid is proud to be a band geek, and no one at the high school makes fun of them for it at all (and he's got so much self-confidence now that he really doesn't care what anyone else thinks!!)

 

The idea of "fair share" has long been debated. The decision to commit time, money, hard work, etc to a program such as this is a decision for each individual student and family. I am a single parent with four children....I am a teacher...I am a lover of music...most importantly I believe in providing my children with every opportunity to learn the ideals of dedication, teamwork, striving for the impossible, and living life to its fullest. The music program at West Johnston does exactly that.

I will spend my $950 on this experience before I buy expensive shoes, playstations, name brand clothing, ipods, etc. I have one child who has lived the experience...gone on to college (which is scholarship funded thanks to Lance Britt, David Duffy, and the life lessons she has learned as result of their influence). I have three more children who dream of nothing more than being part of a program that exemplifies the phrase "If you can you must, for there are those who cannot!"

Every penny of those funds goes toward building the potential of many children who never dreamed that they could belong somewhere....let alone gain the level of success being achieved in this lone school in Johnston County North Carolina...

My hats off to the band parents who may sometimes come across as too aggressive in their quest for those funds...they, too, are part of this success and commit time and effort that they easily could walk away from....but then again...thats the point of the program....it's not about a single person...it's about the roles we all play in instilling values in our children and working together as a community...



.....whew...jumping of the box....need to rest after that!

 

I'm sure that saving your child from the "laughing stock of the high school" that has produced the Salutatorian the four years the schools has had a graduating class is definitely a benefit to your child. The band fills most of the top 10% of each graduating class and has had several members on both the Homecoming courts and Prom Courts over the past few years. I too have seen what goes on inside the school and you can say the band is a microcosm of the high school in general. You still have the same social circles that run throughout the school, from those in the "popular" crowd to those in the band who could be considered by outsiders as "geeks". I personally think that anyone with a creative outlet such as music is in no way a "geek" because playing music forces you to exercise parts of your brain that calculus or football do not.

 

Sorry, but the quest for those funds should not include collection agency type phone calls to parents or telling the kids that they have to stay "in this crappy hotel because some parents didn't pay their fair share". And yes, that's what a couple of BPA members told a group of kids when they pulled into a roach-infested hooker hotel on one of their trips. I heard it from my kid, but verified it with a parent who was chaperoning.

I think the band is a great thing,but the BPA needs to back off, especially since they can't keep their own house in order...

 

You obviously have never had a child in band. If you did, you would not have made that comment. Band builds confidence, self esteem and lots discipline. A lot of these kids are very athletic, honor students and for weeks during the summer they practice from 8 am to 8 pm. I'd like to see a you do that and then come back and call them band geeks.
My daughters were never called band geeks as a matter of fact one of my "band geek" daughters was voted most attractive in her senior class.
Maybe you should look at yourself a little closer before passing judgment and name calling kids.

 

The 'booster' club is the only way these kids are able to do most of the things they do. You're not the PAYING the booster club, you're supporting the band program and the kids that are in it (and YES, also those that are not able to pay!). The band program does not receive enough funds from the county to support a band of this size and caliber. How else would you suggest that the funds be raised other than fair share and fund raisers?

If you check with other area schools you would see that West's fair share is about the same as anyone else's. And their BPA's run about the same also. Plus the BPA does offer numerous ways to earn funds for the 950.00.

 

bandmom is correct, a student can do fundraisers and earn every bit of their fair share.

 

OK, so may not be from West Johnston, but still a band parent, Clayton. I have to say that from what I have seen, the band students here are treated pretty well and speaking for my son, I have not once had him come home and tell me that the kids were made fun of because they were in the band or called geeks or anything like that. My son was very proud of what he did and wore his band uniform with pride and in fact, when he graduated, he told me how much he was going to miss it. My daughter is now following in his footstep and has joined the marching band. As far as the fairshare goes, we pay what we can when we can and I do help with the fundraisers. I may not get the payments to them as quickly as the boosters would like it, but eventually my fees get paid. Like I said, I help my kids with the fundraisers but do not go sit at all the meetings and such. For one, with my husband working all the time, I just do not have the time to do this. With the health problems I have had, I cannot tolerate getting overheated very well. Do I support the band though, you bet. I am constantly telling people how great it is, new students that are considering the band, I talk to the parents about what it has done for my son and now my daughter. If that makes us geeks, then we are proud geeks! LOL I think these kids need to be supported and encouraged as much as the football players, wrestlers, basketball players, etc are. It doesn't matter what school they are at, Clayton, West Johnston, Garner, where ever. These kids work just as hard as the above mentioned and they deserve the be recognized for what they do.

OK, I am stopping now. I do tend to get a little worked up over some of these because I see how much time and effort goes into the shows these kids put on and how hard they work to prepare for competitions. Love those Marching Band Members!!!!

 

Thank god tax dollars are not going to send high school students on such elaborate trips so many times a year.

 

OK. I just asked my son that graduated this past June. He says that band members are NOT looked at as geeks. Most people admire them for the time they put into it and are proud of their accomplishments. "Band geek" is a term of the past. Get you head out of the sand:idea: and realize that many kids today have stepped above their parent's generation and express much more tolerance in many situations. Some of the coolest, most respectful, hard working kids I know are in the WJ band. And no, my son was not in the band...but he's still cool to me:mrgreen:

 

Some of us feel that way about the some of the other sports also. Maybe if they cut the number of games and meets they have in half, then some of that money could go to the band program. The marching band program is for 1/2 year, yet MY tax dollars go to help fund the rest of the sports programs for the full year and I do not have any children that participate in them, so I guess I could say why should MY tax dollars go for those programs? For me, I would much rather MY tax dollars go to help the marching band program than these other sports.

As far as elaborate trips, most of their competitions are locally. The Clayton kids attend usually one regional BOA and the Grand Nationals. 2 Major Trips!! That is usually it. West Johnston has gone to a few other things, but those kids and their parents worked their tails off to attend those additional trips that were not on their normal schedule.

The other sports travel a heck of a lot more than the band kids do, doesn't matter if it is in state or out of state, not to mention, these band kids also support the football team. I could say why do I have to pay $5 to get into a football game, that I really don't care to watch because I don't like football, just to watch my kid play in the band for a few minutes at half time? Not only am I supporting my child in band, I am also supporting the other sports programs. Seems band parents are on the loosing end no matter what. So, maybe OUR kids deserve that little extra and maybe YOUR tax dollars should help since mine, I am sure, have helped your kids.

 

OK mommy3 ~ I agree with you, but I also have to add Clayton Marching Comets on the cool list too! LOL

 

typically football is a revenue generator for high school's......works for me if they cut all tax payer funding for sports and band.....