Hey! DIS is gettin' the band (booster club) back together!

Musicians are cool. I think we can all agree on that.

Well, except when we’re in middle school, because at that time we can’t agree on what or who is cool for more than ten minutes.

But what if, at that age, we had the capacity to believe in the sustainable coolness of being able to play an instrument? It would have to come from something other than a dream to become a huge recording artist with arena tours, given those odds. It might, instead, find firmer footing in the belief that playing an instrument first makes the world a cooler place and, as the carrier of that coolness, the musician is consequently cool.

There are, in fact, a number of students at Daniel Island School who have already committed to that notion. As members of the middle school band and orchestra, their musician swagger is already in development. But they’ve also learned, in recent weeks, that it is in jeopardy.

In an email to parents on April 29, DIS principal Marty French informed school stakeholders that the K-8 would be losing 11 classroom teachers, one physical education teacher, 0.5 Gateway to Technology (GTT) instruction, 0.5 middle school instrumental (orchestra program), 0.5 Spanish instruction, and one elementary computer lab teacher. French cited the loss of 300 students to the new Philip Simmons Elementary and Middle Schools as the reason for the faculty cuts.

She further explained that a school’s staff is distributed based on a formula which is dependent upon student enrollment. Therefore, if students are lost, so are teacher allocations. “All of us in the education business would prefer to maintain full programs at all schools, but the decisions are based on the amount of revenue that the state is using to fund education,” French asserted. “As much as our district would love to provide full programs at every school, the funding is not available.”

As a result, French reported that the difficult to decision was made to cut the DIS orchestra program because, with just ten continuing orchestra students in grades seven and eight combined, the program served the least amount of students. She noted that the band program would not be affected.

When parents of current and future students of the school’s music program learned that 50% of the hours of its beloved band/orchestra teacher, Mr. Spitler, would be cut from DIS, the reaction was swift and strong. Within a week, a group of parents had rallied to explore options, and scheduled a meeting with the school’s administration and PTA. With a consensus that the orchestra program was simply too important to eliminate, it was suggested that the school’s Band and Orchestra Booster Club be revived and reinforced to supplement the other half of Mr. Spitler’s salary, allowing him to stay at DIS full-time.

However, the Booster Club was just a few thousand in the black, and in good years had only been able to cover travel, equipment, and incidental costs with various fundraisers. With neither numbers nor time on its side, the booster club was made a generous offer in the form of a loan from the DIS PTA. In tandem with fortified booster efforts and club membership, the PTA agreed to loan the group the money needed to bridge the gap in Mr. Spitler’s salary. The Booster Club would have nearly a year to pay back the loan.

Two weeks later, a follow-up meeting was held at DIS, and the arrangement was approved. Brantley Thomas, Chief Financial Officer for Berkeley County School District, was in attendance to distribute BCSD’s budget for the 2016-17 school year and address any questions regarding allocations. Thomas also indicated that the district’s CPA would assist the Booster Club in filing its 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. The club voted in three of its four 2016-17 officers and determined to clean up the by-laws to reflect its new mission.

The club’s primary aims will be to generate further interest in orchestra and band, financially and logistically support the instrumental music program and, most immediately, engage in effective fundraisers to meet the aforementioned objectives. With a goal of $60,000 to fund the remainder of Mr. Spitler’s salary as well as additional instruments and other costs associated with instrumental music activities, the Band and Orchestra Booster Club is already off the starting blocks. The group will meet every three weeks during the summer beginning June 29, and fundraising events will commence at the start of the school year in August.

DIS administration is also distributing a Blackboard Connect email to all of the K-8 parents, alerting them to the need to get interested orchestra students enrolled in the program as soon as possible, as well as providing a link to a “donate now” button to support instrumental music at DIS. Further information on enrollment can be directed to Marty French at frenchm@bcsdschools.net, and the donation button can be found on the school’s website at bcsdschools.net/DIS (be sure to earmark funds for the Band and Orchestra Booster Club).

To get involved with the Band and Orchestra Booster Club - as a committee chair, member, or sponsor - contact club president Francis Ervin at francis.ervin@rtt-law.com.

BEN FOLD IS IMPASSIONED ABOUT FURTHERING THE PROLIFERATION OF MUSIC

Coincident with the developments in the Daniel Island School band and orchestra program, popular musician and recording artist Ben Folds brought his “Orchestra Experience” to the Volvo Car Stadium on Wednesday, June 8, performing with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Folds is known for being a force of talent in his own right, but he is also impassioned about furthering the proliferation of music by promoting its place in society and mentoring musicians.

A conspicuous smarty-pants, he embodies the kind of cool a more cerebral musician emits. “Innovations in pop music come slower and slower each year,” Folds says. “I think one awesome door to walk through is this, the world of classical music from whence all our ideas of composition grew. That world is hurting right now and it could use pop musicians. And pop musicians could use the classical world because it’s so full of possibility and sounds. It’s endless.”

Oh, and here’s what happens when kids pick up (and never forever put down) musical instruments:

• High school music students have been shown to hold higher grade point averages (GPA) than non-musicians in the same school.

• A study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors, including English, biology, chemistry, and math.

• Students who participate in school band or orchestra have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs among any group in our society.

• With music in schools, students connect to each other better – greater camaraderie, fewer fights, less racism, and reduced use of hurtful sarcasm.

• Music helps under-achievers; students lagging behind in scholastic performance caught up to their fellow students in reading and surpassed their classmates by 22% when given music instruction for seven months.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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