Article Contributed on: 10/20/2006 8:52:24 PM
Can you imagine your hometown parade without the High School Marching Band? I didn't think so... yet this could easily happen here in Lafayette, were it not for the Centaurus Band Boosters, the parent support organization for the Centaurus HS Band.
Like all school bands, the Centaurus High School Band is loved by the young people who are a part of it. In the Fall, they dedicate countless hours of their own after-school time to Marching Band, for which they begin practicing in late Summer. In fact Band Camp takes over a week of their Summer vacation.
Fall activities culminate with the State competition, which this year will be in Pueblo, on Monday, Oct. 23. Later in the year they'll perform in the concert band, and some students will also do the drum line competition, another three months of practices and extra curricular time.
A band program is not cheap, on the contrary, it is very expensive. Once you add up the cost of uniforms, instruments, music, choreography, entry fees, travel to competitions, and other needs, the costs mount very quickly. In an ideal world, the Centaurus HS Band should be able to support these young people in their endeavor, which for many is truly a passion, and seeing the dedication, the discipline and the time and effort these kids put into band activities, you would think that the school district would support them.
This could not be further from the case. We have calculated the cost of a not-too-pretentious band program to be approximately equal to $450 for each of 45 students. Yet, amazingly, the school district gives the band less than $2,000 for the entire year! This is all the more incredible if you consider that band is not extracurricular in nature, but rather a regular HS course, and yet with the meager funds afforded by the district, band directors are supposed to actually provide a program!
Few Lafayette parents can afford to pay for the band program out of their own pocket, so the Band Boosters are constantly striving to raise funds, but the band simply does not have the "appeal" of other activities, such as football and other sports, in spite of the fact that the band actually supports the football team by playing and performing at all home games.
And all this focus on fundraising can cause us to lose sight of the fact that the band needs other types of support, such as help organizing the competitions, preparing the band to travel, building props, and many other activities.
We hope you award will help Centaurus HS Band to thrive and continue to support young people in our community.