Guiding Principles for 2021
Guiding Principles for 2021
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: “We are in uncharted territory.”
Or this one… “We just want to get back to some sense of normal.”
Or… “All my kids want to do is make music with their friends.”
These are just a few common phrases we’ve heard while conducting our 100 Conversations with educators over the past few weeks. These discussions have inspired us and helped to inform our 2021 USBands Recovery & Revitalization Plan for the upcoming fall season, with elements implemented as our Guiding Principles for the next 24 months.
With the understanding that all plans are tentative based on the health and safety guidelines which will be in place later in 2021, USBands commits itself to the following components of support for music educators and student-performers in virtual and in-person events, educational opportunities, and overall service to the music education community.
Sustainability: Support for music programs, educators, and student-performers to survive and thrive in their schools and community while we recover from the impacts of the past 12 months.
Audacity: The audacious goal of working to not lose any programs or participating students based on elements which we can influence; and provide support to those impacted by elements we can not.
Empathy: Adjudicators, and the educational standards they employ, will be empathetic to the educators and performers to assist in developing programs to become stronger, and strong programs to flourish. Event Staff, volunteers, and the full-time professional team will work with every program to make sure our student-performers are provided with remarkable experiences.
Equity: Providing access and experiences for all music programs regardless of group size or level of proficiency and administration support. As well, we will embrace a welcoming policy for musical groups of all cultural backgrounds.
Consistency: From programs only mildly impacted by the pandemic to those who have yet to play in person, we commit to the highest quality traditional adjudication analysis and educational commentary from a roster of nationally-accredited adjudicators in the pageantry arts network.
Reliability: Provide Event Hosts and Event Staff with resources and support to execute healthy and safe events that are successful, well-attended, and fun while maximizing the Event Host's profitability and delivering a high-quality experience for educators, students, and parents.
Community: To engage parents in the support of their children and their community through communication, access to resources, and remarkable experiences at all of our events.
We will soon be unveiling our 5 Phase Plan taking us from the Spring through the Fall and outlining some of the new and exciting opportunities for you and your students to “chart new territory” and get young people back to “playing music with their friends.”