2017 uniform campaign:
WHY we need new uniforms for our band:
As public education provides a benefit to the entire community, public education is necessarily a community endeavor. The Dansville High School Marching Band is a high-profile institution that provides a critical link between the school and the community it serves.
After 30 years, the Dansville High School Marching Band’s current uniforms have served the school well and are due for retirement. While age alone does not dictate value, most school band programs replace uniforms after ten to fifteen years. They are outdated, incomplete, worn, and water-damaged: sub-standard compared to other similarly sized schools in mid-Michigan. The summation of these factors on each student-performer is a uniform that is unpleasant to wear, stifles the pride that students ought to feel in their work, and enforces a perception that the band is undervalued. The primary audience of a band uniform is truly the student who wears it, and it should inspire some level of pride.
Through an evaluation of three uniform manufacturers, the cost to provide quality uniforms for a 40-50 member ensemble has been assessed at approximately $30,000; certainly a substantial investment. However, the result will be a marked improvement in the student experience and enhanced perception of the band by audiences and adjudicators alike.
Furthermore, this improvement will widen the appeal of music at Dansville Schools, encouraging more students to study music, which has a measurable, positive effect on both academic achievement and quality of life.
Improved uniforms, to be acquired for the 2018 or 2019 school year, will intentionally harken to Dansville’s past. In so doing, they will reflect the community’s long-standing pride in its school. Moreover, they will provide students with the quality performance-wear that is standard across the activity and mold the perception of the marching band into that of a first-class organization.
As public education provides a benefit to the entire community, public education is necessarily a community endeavor. The Dansville High School Marching Band is a high-profile institution that provides a critical link between the school and the community it serves.
After 30 years, the Dansville High School Marching Band’s current uniforms have served the school well and are due for retirement. While age alone does not dictate value, most school band programs replace uniforms after ten to fifteen years. They are outdated, incomplete, worn, and water-damaged: sub-standard compared to other similarly sized schools in mid-Michigan. The summation of these factors on each student-performer is a uniform that is unpleasant to wear, stifles the pride that students ought to feel in their work, and enforces a perception that the band is undervalued. The primary audience of a band uniform is truly the student who wears it, and it should inspire some level of pride.
Through an evaluation of three uniform manufacturers, the cost to provide quality uniforms for a 40-50 member ensemble has been assessed at approximately $30,000; certainly a substantial investment. However, the result will be a marked improvement in the student experience and enhanced perception of the band by audiences and adjudicators alike.
Furthermore, this improvement will widen the appeal of music at Dansville Schools, encouraging more students to study music, which has a measurable, positive effect on both academic achievement and quality of life.
Improved uniforms, to be acquired for the 2018 or 2019 school year, will intentionally harken to Dansville’s past. In so doing, they will reflect the community’s long-standing pride in its school. Moreover, they will provide students with the quality performance-wear that is standard across the activity and mold the perception of the marching band into that of a first-class organization.