... the smaller evil rises to take it's place. So, tonight I get an e-mail from the cheer advisor summoning me to a meeting with our dance teacher and Principal Leto this Friday. Something about "ideas about how to increase school spirit at football games."
Now... I consider Cheer Advisor to be a friend, and I think she's tried (in the past) to be sensitive to my issue with Principal Palpatine. The problem is, I don't think she's ever fully understood my issue with P. To be sure, she doesn't understand how band works. I know this because she recently handed me a CD that contained a recording of a tune that happens to be a different arrangement of a pep song that we regularly play, with the expectation that we would change what we play to fit her girls' dance. It's becoming apparent to me that she shares a critical trait P: She has no concept of band outside of football games or pep rallies. I don't fault her for that, but it does make it difficult to find common ground.
I am not going to gear up for a border skirmish... but I think I will have to stand my ground in a couple of areas: I won't have our repertoire, or our operations dictated to us. I told P to her face that I worked for the kids, not for her. (and act that I hope never to have to repeat with another principal.) I certainly feel far less obliged to Cheer Advisor in that respect. At the same time, I have to be careful not to appear as anything but a "team player." Leto may be a band guy at heart, but I fully expect him to be a principal first. I think the best thing is to listen to her ideas, and then give input on if/how we can accommodate them.
(Edit)
Had the meeting. Turns out Cheer Advisor wasn't trying to push anything on my band: The reason why she wanted the meeting was to protect her middle school girls from being burned out by the expectation to perform at the high school events. I feel bad for not trusting her.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
There are always more battles. I think you've accrued some energy points and some armor along the way here...WoW-style. Good luck!
Cheer advisor? Please. I agree she doesn't understand the world you work in--I doubt she's capable of it, to be honest. Your planned approach to this--hear her out and try to work with her--will only HELP you if it gets to the point where she whines and screams because she doesn't get her way.
And treat Leto like a principal first . . . that'll work in your favor as well.
You quite obviously know what you're doing.
Post a Comment