Hail to the Captain

So, Principal Janeway continues to inspire me with hope.  I know she's still in her 'honeymoon phase' - where all new principals bide their time before they press forward with their 'real' agenda.  Even so, she feels far more genuine than Principal Palpatine ever did. (of course, the saying "Smells better than shit" applies)  In the few times that I've talked with her, she's basically said all the right things - and none of it came off as pleasantries that were only meant to put me at ease, or gain my confidence.  She seems to have a vision of what she wants the music department to be - it appears to be a lot like mine.  It's going to take a lot of work - but that's okay.... better than okay, in fact.

I also get the feeling that someone warned her not to say the words "marching band" around me, which amuses me to no end.

Notable Janeway quotes:

"I don't care about marching band - why don't we build a big orchestra?"


"We've got to get the counselors to stop advising kids out of music."

"Can you publicize your concerts a little earlier?  I really want to make sure that we get administrators there, and this one took us by surprise."


I know that I have to be careful - I am prone to blind faith in people sometimes.  But then, given how taken Beethoven was with Napoleon at first, I'll count myself in good company.

Concert Fail

Had a concert last night.  It was the first one in a long time that I didn't feel good about.  All concerts have highs and lows, but I usually walk away feeling that overall, I did something good for the kids and their families.  Last night I wanted to give people their money back.... except that we offer our concerts for free.
Some of the groups did okay, others not so much.  Somehow we ended up with a program that was far shorter than anything we've done in the last ten years.  Even so, a lot of it sounded like it just came out of the oven too early (musically speaking)  I'm trying to do the math in my head, and I can't figure out how I could have let this happen.
There are a lot of things that I could have blamed it on - the extended football season, the fact that my 'challenged' student teacher required more time in front of the class (which significantly affected my own preparation), the weird way that the calendar played out this year, being distracted by my father's illness.   All of it's true, but none of it matters - I'm a professional with a masters degree in what I do.  This shit shouldn't happen.
The kids still love me, as do the parents, but I can't let this happen again.