What is your favorite extracurricular?

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My DD15 isn't doing anything right now but out of all the things she tried, I really enjoyed watching Karate.

For my son, I really enjoyed it when he did Vex Robotics in High School. I was the team Mom and had a great time with those teenagers.

 

[Kimberlyann11]

I'm not belittling band. I'm defending a broad attack against football as a whole and how it sucks up all the money - as charged by the OP, whom brought the subject up in the first place. If she hates the football games that her DD's marching band supports and plays at, then it's too bad that they don't live in your school district....she wouldn't have to worry about having to go to the football games that so clearly get in the way of her enjoyment of her daughter's marching band halftime performances.

I reread my OP and I swear I don't see an attack of any kind, broad , narrow or oblong. It's almost like I'd said that I love green but can't stand all that red with it at Christmastime only to be told that I can enjoy green other times of the year so don't celebrate Christmas. Wow. It's oddly disproportionate and defensive and still leaves me scratching my head. But this is the Dis so it's all good.

I have a coworker whose son is a star with one of our rivals. She can't stand football either so she works the concession stand so she can still be supportive but doesn't have to watch it. (But I think her issue is that she's worried about seeing her boy get hurt). No one would ever know she doesn't like football. No one would ever know I don't like football. I clap and cheer appropriately and chat with the other parents and snuggle with my blanket. I adore our football players. The ones I know personally are fine, happy friendly kids. Our boosters are foul- but I think that's just ours. I know football boosters from other programs who are awesome. Our band is a show band. We don't compete like the PPs band. That's because we are from a relatively poor community and can only fund raise as much as the community will allow - and when I say we don't get any money from the school, I am serious. To actually compete is very expensive and is either done by more well-off communities or communities where the school supports the arts. I would love to live in PP's district! We scrounge and fund-raise every penny. We do two or three invitationals a year and the festival. We do a parade at a non-disney theme park. We don't do away games because that's one more thing we would have to pay for. The halftimes are practice and get freshmen used to marching in front of a rowdy crowd.

We have a jazz band - it's a class. Anything they do outside of class is fundraised by the boosters. We also have a symphonic band - it's a class. Any solo & ensemble or all-state or clinics are paid for by parents and boosters together. The week-long camp three hours away is paid for by a combination of boosters and parents. When I say we get no money I am not exaggerating. We pay for all uniforms for all the bands as well as all the instruments. All instructors besides the directors (who are teachers) are paid by boosters.

If I told you how much our district of two high schools spent on football in 2014 while laying off teachers, I would be called a liar. I even went to the trouble of pulling up a link for proof in case I got called a liar. But I don't really want y'all knowing where I live so I'll just say it's high seven figures and leave it at that. I think that's a lot, and I resent it a little, but I know my priorities are screwed.

 

[SEA333]

"I reread my OP and I swear I don't see an attack of any kind, broad , narrow or oblong. Wow. It's oddly disproportionate and defensive and still leaves me scratching my head."

"If I told you how much our district of two high schools spent on football in 2014 while laying off teachers, I would be called a liar....so I'll just say it's high seven figures and leave it at that. I think that's a lot, and I resent it a little, but I know my priorities are screwed."

"I can't stand football and I have to go watch the games in order to see pre-game, halftime and post-game. The money I pay for admission goes to the sports programs while marching band gets bupkis."

I'm not sure where I would have gotten the idea that you were attacking the football program at your school either.....it could have just been me reading it wrong.

If I wasn't angry about the football program at my school and it has nothing to do with anything, I probably would have said "Watching my daughter perform in her marching band halftime show is not my favorite way to spend a Friday night" and left it at that. That way, nobody could have read any discontent about my school's football program, which, incidentally, I do not believe to be an unnecessary, teacher-firing, unneeded high school program. But then again, as you so stated, neither do you.

Oh, wait.....never mind.

Bottom line: It's not the football programs fault that teachers are laid off - the money comes from two completely different funds. It's not football's fault that they bring in the majority of the revenue for the school, thus funding many other programs that wouldn't exist if not for them (in some places) while at the same time taking much of it for their own program. It's not footballs fault that you have to sit in the stands and watch it. However, it IS football's fault that we are talking about it here today.

So, it looks like football has brought us together. LOL

Have a great night!

 

[MomofKatie]

DD's main EC is soccer. She started in a rec league at age 5, moved up to club soccer at 10, and played on her middle school and now high school teams. We have loved being soccer parents for all these years- only her senior season to go.

She participates in the Astronomy club, UNICEF, Spectrum, and got a mentorship with a biochemistry professor at UNC this summer through her senior year.

Our favorite, and only real EC of hers that we can participate in, is soccer. It is hard to attend school games because she goes to a boarding school 150 miles away from us, but we made it to 4 games this year.

 

[unhinged]

Competitive cheer (which I guess is what you are calling "All-Star") is in winter (and sometimes they sideline cheer for basketball, depending on the school), and sideline cheer is for football games. At least in my area. Two different sports. One is it's own entity, one exists for the football games. Neither are bad, or better or worse, nor is band.early get in the way of her enjoyment of her daughter's marching band halftime performances.

All-Star cheer is actually year round and not associated with any school. They are usually their own gym and they never sideline cheer. If you are interested, this is the governing federation: http://www.usasf.net Colleges are transitioning All-Star cheer into a new sport - Stunt and Tumbling. It is a blast to watch as those girls and boys are so athletic.

 

[luvsJack]

All of my kids have done different ec activities. But I have to say that baseball, football and choir have been my favorites.

I miss heading to those Friday night games. HS football is a big deal here and it becomes pretty much a social event.

Baseball is my favorite sport and I just loved watching ds play.

I thought choir would be boring and just something for dd to do when it wasn't show choir competition season but I was wrong. And now that they have the a capella groups the concerts and competitions are fun to watch.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My son was the starting Varsity Center for HS football, so I have been to a ton of games in the last 4 years.

In our school, the marching band rarely showed up for games. They do not exist to support the football team, they are an entity in and of itself. And a good one at that. They were much too busy preparing for different competitions to make it to football games. Even at away games, I cannot remember a single band of another school performing. At the most, the trumpets and percussion section might be in the stands providing some fun accompaniments to plays. We parents commented on it a lot as we remembered the days when it was fun to watch the marching band perform during half time. The halftime shows were now the Poms doing their routine.

Since you coach cheer, much like All-star Cheer does not cheer for anybody as they are their own sport, the band does not exist to play for a sport as they are their own.

They certainly did not exist just because the football team existed. And I don't say this as a band mom as none of my children were part of the music programs at school. I do say it as a football and cheer mom and I think saying the band would not exist if there was not football is doing a huge disservice to the Marching Band.

How very weird. Band competitions are based on a "halftime show", so halftime at the football game is essentially a dress rehearsal.

We were only permitted to leave the game after halftime if we had a long bus ride to a comp the next day. Otherwise, the band was there for the entire game. And we finished top 5 in the state 3 of my 4 years in marching band. Cheerleaders who were also in band marched at halftime in their cheer uniforms . Football players were excused

 

[disney4us2002]

My sons have participated in multiple extracurriculars from sports to theatre to academia. My top favorites by far were theatre ( I LOVE musical theatre and the field trips I got to chaperone to NYC were so freaking awesome and just the best group of kids) and middle son's baseball teams. He played since age 5 and he just finished his last year of college ball. I can hardly believe that we won't have baseball next spring; I know I'm going to be so sad.

 

[luvsJack]

Our band now exists for much more than performing at football games but it came into existance because of the football games. While they do spend a lot of time preparing for competition, performances, etc. they also march every Friday night.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I reread my OP and I swear I don't see an attack of any kind, broad , narrow or oblong. It's almost like I'd said that I love green but can't stand all that red with it at Christmastime only to be told that I can enjoy green other times of the year so don't celebrate Christmas. Wow. It's oddly disproportionate and defensive and still leaves me scratching my head. But this is the Dis so it's all good.

I have a coworker whose son is a star with one of our rivals. She can't stand football either so she works the concession stand so she can still be supportive but doesn't have to watch it. (But I think her issue is that she's worried about seeing her boy get hurt). No one would ever know she doesn't like football. No one would ever know I don't like football. I clap and cheer appropriately and chat with the other parents and snuggle with my blanket. I adore our football players. The ones I know personally are fine, happy friendly kids. Our boosters are foul- but I think that's just ours. I know football boosters from other programs who are awesome. Our band is a show band. We don't compete like the PPs band. That's because we are from a relatively poor community and can only fund raise as much as the community will allow - and when I say we don't get any money from the school, I am serious. To actually compete is very expensive and is either done by more well-off communities or communities where the school supports the arts. I would love to live in PP's district! We scrounge and fund-raise every penny. We do two or three invitationals a year and the festival. We do a parade at a non-disney theme park. We don't do away games because that's one more thing we would have to pay for. The halftimes are practice and get freshmen used to marching in front of a rowdy crowd.

We have a jazz band - it's a class. Anything they do outside of class is fundraised by the boosters. We also have a symphonic band - it's a class. Any solo & ensemble or all-state or clinics are paid for by parents and boosters together. The week-long camp three hours away is paid for by a combination of boosters and parents. When I say we get no money I am not exaggerating. We pay for all uniforms for all the bands as well as all the instruments. All instructors besides the directors (who are teachers) are paid by boosters.

If I told you how much our district of two high schools spent on football in 2014 while laying off teachers, I would be called a liar. I even went to the trouble of pulling up a link for proof in case I got called a liar. But I don't really want y'all knowing where I live so I'll just say it's high seven figures and leave it at that. I think that's a lot, and I resent it a little, but I know my priorities are screwed.

Marching at away games would be unusual. We only did that at playoff games, but our football team never made playoffs while I was in HS. We had good teams in previous years & our band did march at those away playoff games.

 

[aprilgail]

My very favorite is Theater. Dance was ok, especially since I would only have to sit through one recital a year, I could deal with that- I have always been grateful that she never wanted to do cheerleading because I don't know how I would deal with having to sit there and watch that repeatedly!

 

[unhinged]

Marching at away games would be unusual. We only did that at playoff games, but our football team never made playoffs while I was in HS. We had good teams in previous years & our band did march at those away playoff games.

While some of the marching band showed up for the State Championship (in the stands), they did not show up for any of the playoff games.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

While some of the marching band showed up for the State Championship (in the stands), they did not show up for any of the playoff games.

IIRC, our competition band season was over before football playoffs, so we no longer had any conflicts. I do remember the state championship game our HS played at an away school (before the championships were all held on neutral ground). It was 37 & raining and both bands played. Both also lost a LOT of shoes in the mud LOL. The heater broke in Dad's truck it was a REALLY long 4-hour ride home. Oh yeah, football team lost 42-0 too LOL

The next year, the band played an away playoff game at a very, very poor school. The home team fans had never seen a real "serious" marching band before and SOOO many of them came to our bleachers to brag on what a great show it was. It was pretty touching. We lost that game, too

 

[luvsJack]

Its sad to me that some schools still do not support the arts enough. We are blessed. Football is the number one activity in revenue with the girls basketball team being a far away second. The money is split between all the activities with football getting the biggest split. But a lot of what they spend on can be used by other sports--like the weight room.

The choir gets enough to pay for all of our transportation to and from performances and competitions. And it pays for the music and our accompianist and if we need aomeone to play something other than a piano or organ, it will cover it.

The band actually gets a large cut. They tend to have money left over every year on years they don't need uniforms. The newest band director has been able to buy some instruments to encourage kids to learn to play a new one without having to purchase another one.

And the full band plays at every game.Home or away. It was great having them in the stands as always at the state championship.

But honestly if it wasn't for football, that money wouldn't be there.

 

[Colleen27]

While some of the marching band showed up for the State Championship (in the stands), they did not show up for any of the playoff games.

Wow! Ours draws occasional complaints from away coaches because not only do they play halftime, they play "pep band" selections in the stand during the game similar to a college marching band at the big football schools, and apparently it gives us too much home field advantage. The refs, of course, are having none of that logic but for the band it is a point of pride and they do play at every home and neutral site playoff game, up to and including the championship. When the football team won the state championship a few years back the band absolutely rocked Ford Field; there isn't a kid in the band who would have thought for a second about missing it!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Our band now exists for much more than performing at football games but it came into existance because of the football games. While they do spend a lot of time preparing for competition, performances, etc. they also march every Friday night.

Same here. While football games happen more often and on a regular basis (there are 10 of them... more if we make the playoffs), they also play during the area "community day", two parades, and five or six competitions. There's usually a trip. This November, we are going to Walt Disney World.

Wow! Ours draws occasional complaints from away coaches because not only do they play halftime, they play "pep band" selections in the stand during the game similar to a college marching band at the big football schools, and apparently it gives us too much home field advantage.

Wait... what? Around here, the away team brings its band, which plays pregame and the home band plays halftime. Both bands play during the game (with the 3rd quarter off). In fact, the away band's officers and the home bands officers greet each other during the second quarter. The fact that some places don't do this blows my mind.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Band gets an equal-rationed percentage of the amount of money they bring in.

How does your band "bring in money"? The parent booster club for our band has a snack stand at football games. Besides that, students do fundraising to pay for trips. Our concert band and chorus concerts are free of charge. And competitions don't have cash prizes. The band does have a budget for instruments and music, and we use school buses for local transportation. But for a big trip, students pay for it themselves. I don't know what will happen when it's time to replace the uniforms. We might have to raise that money. The parent booster club pays to have them dry cleaned, for sure.

 

[Colleen27]

Wait... what? Around here, the away team brings its band, which plays pregame and the home band plays halftime. Both bands play during the game (with the 3rd quarter off). In fact, the away band's officers and the home bands officers greet each other during the second quarter. The fact that some places don't do this blows my mind.

Around here, bands don't travel with the football team until neutral site playoffs (which starts at quarter finals, IIRC). It is a cost thing, mainly. Our school is relatively small but still the band needs 3 buses and an equipment trailer, which makes it far more expensive for the band to attend away games than for the team to do so.

 

[Jaime4004]

I love watching my own kids in whatever they are doing, but for the most part, I am not a sports fan. So I enjoy watching them when they play in the game but read a book when they're not up (soccer, basketball). I'm with the OP in that I also dislike football, luckily none of my kids wanted to play. And I was starting to sweat when DD wanted to do cheerleading for the town football team, thankfully it interferred with her other sport and didn't happen. The thought of sitting through that every weekend. Mine have tried many things, the least painful to me is dance and gymnastics. Swim might have been the most painful, maybe tied with basketball cheer.

 

[aprilgail]

Its sad to me that some schools still do not support the arts enough. We are blessed. Football is the number one activity in revenue with the girls basketball team being a far away second. The money is split between all the activities with football getting the biggest split. But a lot of what they spend on can be used by other sports--like the weight room.

.

If they charged to see a high school football game here no one would go- heck hardly anyone goes with it free LOL. Its just not that big of a deal, its just high school ball.