Getting set up for chorus in another room was a labor-intensive endeavor. One of the biggest issues was setting up a sound system every Wednesday for chorus.
My classroom had two cheap 12 inch speakers and 4 input 100w head that I used in all of my general classes. I supplemented that rig with my own mic stands and SM58 mics. Every Wednesday I had to break all of it down, along with my electric piano and stand as well as my acoustic/electric Epiphone guitar and stand, and transport it to the multi-purpose room that was easily 3 minutes away from my classroom.
The solution: I hired roadies!
My classroom had two cheap 12 inch speakers and 4 input 100w head that I used in all of my general classes. I supplemented that rig with my own mic stands and SM58 mics. Every Wednesday I had to break all of it down, along with my electric piano and stand as well as my acoustic/electric Epiphone guitar and stand, and transport it to the multi-purpose room that was easily 3 minutes away from my classroom.
The solution: I hired roadies!
The Roadies would arrive at my room at 12:10 before chorus, pick up a flatbed from the custodial closet, and load everything on the flatbed: the PA, the boxes of music, piano, mics, mic/piano/guitar stands, speaker and amp runs. We employed four to five roadies. We would roll down those hallways and everybody knew that Mr. Holmes’ Magical Mystery Music Flatbed was in town.
Within weeks, our roadies achieved celebrity status around the school.
"Comin' through! Watch your step!"
Within weeks, our roadies achieved celebrity status around the school.
"Comin' through! Watch your step!"
We had a high retention rate with our job holders. There were only had two students who walked away from their jobs. Everyone else stayed in their jobs until the very bitter end of my last week.
If you submitted an application and had been notified by me that you got a job, you had to report for a leadership meeting because all our workers were on the Wilbur Chorus Leadership Team. At that meeting you would receive your leadership folder containing all your job responsibilities, a leadership journal, proactive certificatees that members filled out and handed to kids and adults they they "caught" being proactive, expectations of all workers as far as their behavior in school, and Doctor Covey’s seven habits for highly effective people that were outlined in his “Leader in Me” program for school-age children. The Leadership folder contained the one thing they all really wanted: the coveted Wilbur Chorus Leadership lanyard that they were to wear on chorus days and at all concerts. Chorus pride ran deep (many leadership members wore their lanyard every day).
If you submitted an application and had been notified by me that you got a job, you had to report for a leadership meeting because all our workers were on the Wilbur Chorus Leadership Team. At that meeting you would receive your leadership folder containing all your job responsibilities, a leadership journal, proactive certificatees that members filled out and handed to kids and adults they they "caught" being proactive, expectations of all workers as far as their behavior in school, and Doctor Covey’s seven habits for highly effective people that were outlined in his “Leader in Me” program for school-age children. The Leadership folder contained the one thing they all really wanted: the coveted Wilbur Chorus Leadership lanyard that they were to wear on chorus days and at all concerts. Chorus pride ran deep (many leadership members wore their lanyard every day).
You might be asking yourself, Holmes, that seems like a lot of work.
In a word, yes. I knew going into my second year it that it would take a lot of extra hours to get everything organized and rolling, especially given my wall-to-wall schedule.
I’ll outline the rational for my choices in “Create a Workforce - Part Three”
In a word, yes. I knew going into my second year it that it would take a lot of extra hours to get everything organized and rolling, especially given my wall-to-wall schedule.
I’ll outline the rational for my choices in “Create a Workforce - Part Three”
RSS Feed