Parents, Money, and Music

When I was in High School the parents of the "music kids" were incredibly involved in helping us put together our performances. There were parent organizations such as "Choral Parents" that ran fundraising and organized buying the choir gowns and tuxedoes. They were in charge of selling roses and refreshments at concerts. For marching band, parents were in charge of handing out uniforms, helping to organize events, and moved equipment to the different competitions. Parents ran the fundraising programs that helped to pay for competitions, music, instruments, and scholarships. We were incredibly fortunate to have so many parents who valued our work enough to dedicate their time to helping us. Their help and dedication gave our directors time to focus on helping us improve our music, instead of focusing on the many logistics that go into operating a thriving music program.

Unfortunately, this is not a reality for many schools. The question that we face is, should we have to rely on parents and fundraising to run a modern BOJC program?

If a teacher is fortunate enough that they have parents that want to be involved they should utilize that incredible resource. It is important for students to see that their parents support what they're doing. One of the amazing things about music is that it has the ability to bring people together, to form communities. Parents were always an important part of my high school music community. By making parents a part of your musical community, students feel supported. They know that their music is important because their parents show that they believe it is important also. It's easy for a student to believe music is not serious if that's the message they receive at home. 
However, although parent support is wonderful, a program must be able to survive without it. It is not always feasible for parents to be as involved. If a program does not have parent support it is up to the teacher to make up the difference. I believe that fundraising is important because music is expensive. Fundraising takes some of the financial burden off the students and their parents. Parents should be encouraged to help, but teachers should be prepared to create a successful program without them.