Headquarters Blog

Hello Everyone!  Well, camp is over, so until next year. . . . . .

 

Oh wait, what's that? You want to hear about today's culminating festivities? Camp really is over, but it just wouldn't be fair if I didn't fill you in on all of today's activities, as well as those that took place yesterday, that I never got the chance to tell you about.

Yesterday was a unique day for all of our students, due to the end-of-the-week picnic starting at 5:00, the all-camp group photo at 6:00, and the much anticipated Drum Corps International Central Illinois show at 7:00.  For the majority of our student division, the day was spent putting finishing touches on final performances that took place this morning and this afternoon.  A couple of groups, however, gave performances.

Our Summer Symposium Color Guard spent much of their time practicing and learning with the all-famous Cavaliers (also the winners of the drum corps show Friday night).  They were taught about posture, hand placements and foot movements, all in which to make the show more entertaining to watch.  They watched as The Cavaliers stepped, spun, tossed, and caught their rifles, flags, sabres, and other props.  Our Color Guard was not the only group practicing and warming up with The Cavaliers, however.  Our very own Marching Band was also rehearsing on the field in Hancock Stadium where they would later play with The Cavaliers in front of a full house. That night show was AMAZING!  It started off with an amazing performance of the National Anthem, arranged by Richard Saucedo by the marching band, and also finished off with their one of a kind show alongside The Cavaliers; together making up one of the largest marching bands I've ever seen!  And with the awards handed out, and The Cavalier named champion, it was off to bed for our campers to get an early start for an exciting day today!

Saturday started off early with our parents breakfast beginning at 7:00 am.  Here, the parents learned about the organization, music, and they also got a taste of what their children have been hearing all week.  And with that, performances began. 

Fantastic student performances began at 9:00 this morning kicking off with jazz band, percussion ensembles, orchestra and concert band.  After morning concerts ended, students, teachers, parents and families came together for the Community Day Picnic.  And let me tell you, I've never seen so many hamburgers and hot dogs in my life!  But when you're feeding over 2,000 people, you have to have a lot, right? 

The picnic scene was incredible - with a drum circle, families sitting together enjoying lunch and the cool Wenger Showmobile® portable stage, featuring a live band, Amo Joy from Indianapolis.

While people were finishing their cookies and drinks and picking up their last minute camp souvenirs on the north side of the Quad, the rest of our tracks ran off to the stadium to get a few warm-ups in before the all out final performances. 

We began with the color guard.  And there were so many of them!  They started in one large group, broke down, to show off the skills their smaller groups had been learning throughout the week, came back together, and had one of the most awesome finales I'd ever seen.  Not only can these children toss rifles and sabres, and spin flags, but did you know they can all do cart wheels?  And they have rhythm; they can dance!  They were shaking and grooving and getting down with their bad selves!

Next up was marching percussion!  This is the part I was so excited for!  The drums!  They were fabulous!  They started by demonstrating exercises for all of us non-drum people to understand the technicality of what they were doing.  They used single, double and triple strokes, and also showed off their mad skills for splits.  They performed together, broke into their small groups, and then came back as one for a fabulous ending to their week at camp!

Following them was the marching band!  After watching them perform last night I couldn't wait to see what was in store.  However, they started off, not with their instruments, but bending all different ways.  I mean, I took dance for 10 years and I'm not even that flexible, but that's only because I'm so old and fragile now.  Not as young as I once was.  For their musical performance they reprised the National Anthm.  We stood in silence, hats off, at attention listening to their music as we watched that amazing flag wave.  Their performance was so good last night, they wanted all of their parents friends and family to get a taste of it today! 

After the marching band, our last and final act for our 2008 Summer Symposium, the drum majors.  Extremely excited, I had only heard stories about what was in store.  After spending the week with George N. Parks, the over 600 students enrolled in this track were on their feet and ready to go.  Their show began with some quick calls and sharp movements.  And then. . . . .. THE MARCH OFF!  For those of you unaware, much like I was only a few hours ago, the march off is similar to Simon Says.  The only difference; he makes a call, and they react.  If they come back with the right movement, motion, call, step, etc., they stay in.  If not, they're out!  It started off slow with over 600 of them, all being so sharp and particular not to mess up.  However, left flanks, right obliques, backwards, rear marches, all coming at more than one per second, some just couldn't keep up.  We slowly narrowed down to our final 5, and then, we stopped!  A quick announcement and a stadium full of congratulations went out to two of our four drum majors for the Bands of America Honor Band playing January 1^st in the Rose Bowl Parade.  Congratulations to Tania Schmitzfranz and Taylor Watts!  And then we went back to the march off.  Five became 4, slowly dwindled to two.  The all-famous battle of the sexes had come up yet again.  We had the girls cheering on the own, and the boys doing the same, until just one drum major was the last....man....standing.

Children and their parents loading into cars, catching shuttles for the airport, bags in hand - more than a year's work of planning, months of countless work, weeks of filing applications, one week of thousands of students, directors, faculty, staff and fans coming together, playing their hearts out. People ask me "For what?"  "Was it all worth it?"  And I smile. For me, it was definitely worth it.  To see the looks on the campers' faces, the excitement emitting from their parents and fans, the anticipation of their directors so anxious for them to come back in the fall and show the rest of their bands what they learned.  To make lasting friendships, learning musical skills and life lessons, it was all worth it.  For the parents, it was an investment well-made.  For the clinicians, it was a trip that recharged their own batteries.  For the staff, it was worth all the hard work. For the SWAG's, it was worth days of non-stop activity, all of those days volunteered.  And for the campers, it was the experience of a life time. 

Until next year. . . . . .

Musically yours, Kayela

Good evening everyone and welcome to Thursday, day four here at ISU.  I know you all are getting excited, only one more day until you all are able to come down and see the awesome performances our campers have been working on!  That's right folks, starting at 9:00 am Saturday morning, your children will be showing you what they have been doing with their time this past week.

This morning started off humid with an early morning storm blowing overhead.  Thanks to that, our afternoon was not the most comfortable.  However, our campers and clinicians trudged on with practices and rehearsals.  The most amusing part?  Trying to figure out how they got anything done, taking water breaks every 30 minutes and having SWAGs spray them down with sunscreen as they marched all over, sometimes not expecting it. 

We spent the afternoon at Hancock stadium watching rehearsals of the marching band.  Despite the long hours with the hot sun, these kids marched on and seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly.  Focused they all were, paying close attention to instruction as to not mess up the new change in dynamics they were dealing with, made by the world-renowned Cavaliers.  The change in dynamics, the rapid increase and decrease in tempo is a normal thing amongst this all-famous drum corps.  They are pushed to the limit and practice so gracefully and adequately that high risk, difficult activities become normal, and quite possibly even mundane.  Due to the fact that our campers aren't used to such difficult and high ranking techniques does that make them any worse of a band?  Well NO WAY!  These kids are carrying tubas, trumpets, flutes, clarinets and more, all while playing a tune, making it sound beautiful, keeping with the music, staying on pitch, having perfect posture, marching around with the weirdest looking of steps, turning and motioning, counting and remembering where they are supposed to go, all while wearing the most uncomfortable of uniforms!  I don't know about you guys, but I can't even pat my head, rub my belly, and hop up and down on one foot at the same time! After watching our campers march around and prepare for concerts both tomorrow and Saturday, I left because I was so sad I would never have all of that coordination.  So I moved onto something I am good at, sitting in a lecture hall.

How did I pick where to sit?  Well that's easy.  I wanted to find out for myself who this all-famous Mr. Alfred Watkins is.  I had been hearing his name since I arrived, due to the fact he received his award for being inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame.  And as soon as I walked in it was like a déjà vu.  He said the exact, the EXACT same thing to many of our directors as was just mentioned in Hancock Stadium to our marching band.  And if you know it is being said all around campus, it must be important!  "Don't reinforce bad habits!"  Just don't do it!  For students, something might be more comfortable, or easier, but if it isn't right, don't do it, because that habit will be harder to break down the road when it counts.  And for directors, don't give up on your students.  They might do it wrong over and over and over, but encourage them to keep trying.  Try something different.  Make your students change their ways!  Otherwise, again, they will pay for it in the future.  Besides stating the obvious, what else did Mr. Watkins have to say?  A lot, actually. He talked about dexterity and woodwinds.  He mentioned accuracy and the timing of the fingers as you play your heart out on the instrument.  He went over drills to increase extension and consistency.  He went over ways to help the directors make their kids feel comfortable.  Sometimes in band, it is easier to get the notes and tune down through singing before playing.  The catch?  Not all band kids can sing, and the director always goes first.  After listening to him talk about it and inspire me, a tone deaf girl who has been paid before to quit singing, was ready to stand up in a room full of people I don't know and belt my heart out with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  And don't go judging my song choice either!

Anyways, the point is not about or singing and sounding horrible, or marching around in the heat until you get sun poisoning, it's about inspiration.  These directors were even more inspired than I was.  Now, as parents (not speaking from experience because all I have is a puppy and a cat) but we think we know everything.  And in most cases, we do.  I know what kind of food my cat should have just as much as you know your child shouldn't have 20 lbs. of sugar for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  However, when it comes to some things, especially when children get older, some parents just don't know.  Like math, for example.  As much as my parents wanted to help, once I got into calculus, they were clueless.  I ran for years.  My dad was always the one running along beside me in the middle of the meet saying "Go faster, Kayela, go faster!"  Well, news flash, dad, running is about pacing yourself, especially when you're going a 5K, something he didn't understand.  Now I'm not saying as parents you harass your directors or tell your child not to listen.  But just so you are aware, these directors are getting the same training as the students are while they are here. They are learning about the technology, the methods, the drills, the music, all in order to better help your child.  So next time your child comes home from band practice before you tell them to forget everything and do it this way, keep that in the back of your mind.  But don't worry, your child will one day realize you have everything and all the answers.  Especially when they move away to college and come back for the summer and need money for a car payment or to go to the movies or their room needs cleaned and they don't have the time.  In that case, moms, dads, brothers, sisters and friends have all the answers.  Especially when they whip out the checkbook and make their way to your room with a mop and a bucket of water.  (Thanks, Mom!)

But don't get jealous, the camp is growing so large, I'm sure at some point in time it might even expand and have a parent track, too.  We all know anything high school related, or school related at all wouldn't take place without you and all of your support.  So thank-you for keeping music in school alive, and not just a dream.

Can't wait to see all of you on Saturday!

Musically yours,

Kayela

Hello parents and music fans!  Welcome to the end of day 3 of the full week Music for All Summer Symposium 2008 presented by Yamaha!  

The day started off with a wild goose chase due to weather!.  I woke up to rain, only to find all of the children had disappeared!  Not a soul in sight as I pranced around with my umbrella and lady bug rain boots.  After a few moments it dawned on me that people don't toot on horns and bang on drums in the rain!  So I wandered inside, and poof there they were!  Playing, marching, spinning and tossing away! 

However, once the rain died off, the campers headed back outside to enjoy some sunshine.  There my cameraman and I caught up with the color guard and did a few interviews.  While waiting on their activity to finish, a squirrel ran away with my microphone.  Yes, he did.  If you don't believe me, ask my cameraman.  So it is obvious to say that the animals as well as the students and faculty are extremely friendly, except for the minor fact that they steal high-tech equipment.  While waiting on the interviews we noticed the most interesting leadership activity taking place: partner dodge ball.  The catch?  One partner, the only one who can throw, pick up and get hit by balls was blindfolded.  What on earth does this have to do with leadership?  Teamwork and trust!  Being blindfolded, you have no control.  The students were forced to trust their partner, listen to them, understand them, have faith in them.  Those teams that lacked these capabilities were easily thrown out in the first round.  However, everyone learns from their mistakes and they came back strong later launching balls through the air dodging, ducking, dipping and diving! 

I later had the privilege to sit in on the rehearsal of not only the famous Barrage, international high-octane fiddle fest, but also our orchestra students who were given the opportunity to perform with these fabulous stars at this evening's concert! The rehearsal started off excellent with the creative designer of Barrage working with the campers, teaching them to feel the music. You not only have to keep up with the music, hit the right notes and stay in tune, you also have to captivate and entertain your audience.  Although this is often done through the use of music, a little visual appeal never hurt!  And these children caught on fast.  They spun, they kicked, they bobbed and weaved, and not one fell over!  Another helpful hint their new instructor gave was dealing with nerves (which you might want to remind your child of during competition season coming up in the fall).  It is a simple known fact that when we get nervous, our heart begins to race, our adrenaline starts to rush, we get all antsy and anxious.  So what do you do with that?  Turn it into rhythm.  So your heart is racing and your pulse is forcing on full speed ahead, make it into a tune.  Take that energy and go with it.  Tap your toes, move your hips, shake your head, do something!  It not only will help you to tame your nerves and put them to good use, it will also entertain the audience and help you to feel your music!

And then it was 8 p.m.  The fiddle fest took the stage and what a show they put on!  Barrage's show ranging from blue grass to seventies disco to Chinese-jazz infusions, The auditorium fell silent as the awe struck faces were captivated by high kicks, perfectly synchronized waves, in tune chords, jumps spins and more.  But of course, we're at a summer camp here so the silence only lasted a few seconds before the auditorium erupted in applause, yells, screams and cheers.  The more the campers cheered, the more adrenaline the performers had.  The more they played, the more the campers cheered, and it was a never-ending two-hour cycle.  Although our campers had been up and going since 8 am, playing their instruments, tossing, marching, etc., the fatigue didn't show and they cheered on and showed no sign of wanting in to end. 

And then our Orchestra division student performers took the stage.  Alongside Barrage, we had 4 violas, 6 violins, 4 cellos and 3 bases of our own join the stage.  After only having the music for two days these kids did a phenomenal job!  They played their hearts out.  They danced, they twirled, and if I were in charge I would have offered them all spots on tour right then and there. But, as we all know, I'm not and most likely all of you want your children to finish school.  Everyone knows parents are proud, they say it over and over and over, to anyone and everyone who will listen.  Trust me, I know, my parents do the same thing.  But for all of you parents out there reading, wondering while your child won't answer their phone because they are being ran all over the place all day long, you truly have a reason to be proud.  Not only the parents of those children on stage accompanying the international group, but also the parents of all of those in the audience, cheering them on.  Children, terrified, nervous, anxious children got up on stage tonight in front of over 2,000 people to perform music they have only seen for two days.  And how can they do that?  Because of their drive, their motivation, their desire to be here, but also because of the support they received from strangers, people they don't know and might never know, cheering them on in the audience, yelling their names, giving them the famous symposium "standing O."  Not only have these students' parents taught their children great things in music, but also in life.  And here at the Summer Symposium, we thank you, because that makes our job easier!

We still have three more days to go and more camp divisions to cover so stayed tuned and keep reading!

Musically yours until tomorrow,

Kayela  

Sorry for the inconvenience, parents and music fans, but today started off in such a tizzy, we are going to skip the introduction and jump right in!

I had another early start with the blaring of an alarm at 5:45 am, so I could get some breakfast before I marched off to our camp headquarters.  However, I found a line, yes, a line was already formed outside of breakfast at 6:32 a.m.  6:32!!!  Who is up that early?  Well, campers are, and they're ready to go!

After staffing headquarters and answering questions of both directors and students in person and parents on the phone, I began with observing the jazz band track.  When I arrived into Hayden Auditorium, I was a bit late, due to my lack of having a sense of direction, but thanks to my nifty yellow staff badge, I don't get yelled at!  When I entered, the faculty was in the middle of playing for all of the 68 students enrolled in the jazz band track.  The students were reminded that the music they are playing isn't just what you play, but more how you play it.  If you're sad, you have to feel it, if you're happy, show it, if you're angry, act it.  But besides having these amazing musicians and teachers playing for your children, they were teaching them, leading them and by the one and only way we like to lead here at camp, by example.  Not only did they show them different techniques, the ease of site reading, but they were also quizzed on jazz music.  Famous musicians, composers, tunes and more were all brought into play.  So when your child comes home, to see if they got anything out of camp, ask them a few questions.  I am sure they will all be able to answer like they were today!

After I was tormented and teased for "feeling the groove" of the music, I made my way back over to University High School and observed the drum majors.  I am not going to lie, it sounded a bit like jibberish to me and was slightly odd for an onlooker who just found out yesterday drum majors don't play drums (go figure, huh!).  But the closer attention I paid, the more I understood.  Standing at attention, having perfect posture, being loud, firm and serious, is so not something I could ever do!  However, the few hundred students we have in that track were amazing to watch.  Synchronized body movements, calls, marches, whistles; it was hard to believe these students were only thrown together yesterday. They were all reminded, even if a first place award is given, the drum major must remain calm, and focused.  Some practiced their marching on the field, and more gathered in the auditorium.  And with a single stance in unison, arms at attention and the waving began.  "5, 6, 7, 8, flip, hold, rest."  They waved, waved, waved, waved, flipped, held and stopped.  Perfectly!  So I thought.  Then, I was reminded why I am not teaching.  The faculty pushes for students to reach beyond limits, to make sure everything is extracted from the lessons that can be.  So again they went, over and over and over.  And then, they conducted each other, and sang.  YES!  Drum majors can sing!  They had posture, they had passion, they had excitement, they had...notes that were slightly off key.  But it was okay!  Because it was the arm movement, the flipping of the hands, the firmness of the fingers that we were all focused on and with that they did an excellent job.  No flimsy arms, no wrists angled at the wrong degree, no feet not together, no backs that weren't straight.  If you want to know anything about relaying a message with your hands and arms, these kids know how to get it done!

Next, I made my way over to the marching band wind ensemble rehearsal.  However, they weren't there.  Yes, they were all okay, they just relocated and I wasn't aware.  So I perched under a tree and watched some of the percussion students rehearse.  Tenors, snares, and bass drums, to be more specific.  And then the most amazing thing happened.  The third session I sat in on was just as synchronized as the previous two!  Sticks in the air at the same time, perfectly in time beats and the exact same facial expressions.  Steady eyes, focused faces, perfect posture, etc.  It reminded me a bit of the movie Drum Line, only more serious.  It was amazing to watch and even more intriguing to listen to.

So, what did I learn today?  All kinds of things!  The easiest thing I think for me to relate this whole musical experience and camp to would have to be dance, no matter what the instrument, or lack there of, toes are always pointed, posture is always perfect, wrists are cocked and fingers are stiff.  It reminds me most of when I took dance when I was younger.  I wanted to smack my teacher every time she yelled at me because my toes weren't pointed or my legs weren't straight.  But now, I get numerous compliments on my excellent form while sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming.

To make an extremely long blog short, ask your children about more than the music itself.  Get them to talk to you about composers, conductors, musicians, the history, etc., because they know.  Second, remember walking around with stiff arms and waving hands is a lot more difficult than it looks, and not comfortable at all. 

Until tomorrow. . . . . .

Musically yours,

Kayela

Greetings!  Hopefully you all have been keeping track of the last two days activities, but today was just as busy!

The Music for All staff, SWAGs and Clinicians got an early start this morning for another registration opening about fifteen minutes before the scheduled time of 8:00 am. However, unlike Saturday, over 800 students filed into Brown Ballroom to receive notebooks, room keys and meal plans! But it didn't stop there. What was planned as a quick run to Burger King early in the afternoon for me turned into a thirty minute wait in line while I was surrounded by campers, clinicians and parents! The name tags, the instruments, the notebooks, they were everywhere! And I loved it! A sense of excitement, adrenaline, anxiety and music lurked in the air and filled the rooms and halls of the entire Bone Student Center.

After lunch, the kick-off to the 2008 Summer Symposium presented by Yamaha began at 1:00 with an amazing musical duo of Dave Samuels and Mike Garson, both Yamaha Artists!  Following them was a brief introduction by Mr. Norm Ruebling, director of students, Mr. Scott McCormick, President and CEO of Music for All, Steve Parsons, a 16-year veteran of the camp, and the director of music here at ISU, followed by a leap into leadership by Mr. Fran Kick. The originally planned short introduction and welcome session stretched into over 45 minutes due to the students' continual cheers and applause before, after and during almost everyone's speech! But trust me, no one complained. The excitement of the students being here that filled that auditorium just a few hours ago upped the spirits of the entire staff and brought smiles to faces of those who have been working countless, tiring hours.

After the invigorating kick-off, the students proceeded into their individual tracks to begin their lessons.  Drum majors in one direction, color guard in another, marching band one way and orchestra in the opposite!  A colorful sea of flags, an ocean of silver and brass and the squeaking of shoes once again filled the streets of ISU for the first time since last year!
 
While wondering around and listening in on certain sessions, color guard seemed to most catch my attention today! Little instruction was given, only a few minutes for warm up, and the next thing you know I was running for cover while rifles, flags, and sabres were tossed into the air!  Why did I run?  Well, I am afraid of falling objects, like I assume the vast majority of the population is. However, on the contrary, everything was caught!  Tossed straight up, and came straight back down!  Twirling and whirling, pointing toes, lifting legs, rotating wrists, throwing objects into the air, and being able to catch them on their way down, not near as easy as it looks!  And now I know from personal experience.  Yes, yours truly, with no musical background, no experience in band or orchestra since I played the infamous plastic recorder in 4th grade, yes, I twirled a flag.  I tossed it, I dropped it, I tossed it again, I dropped it again. I moved onto the sabres.  And parents, you will be glad to know your children were so focused none of them were up for a small game of fencing!  So then I moved on to the rifles.  And again, much to my dismay, no one was interested in reenacting the Civil War.  Instead, these students were strongly focused on their skill and their technique.  Paying close attention to their hand placement, their posture, their foot movement, having pointed toes, etc. stayed on the front of all of their minds.
 
Sadly, I know, but now I can no longer stand the roaring cheers and the beautiful blows on instruments coming from right across the hall in Braden Auditorium.  I am off to join all of your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, and friends to enjoy tonight's performance by the Yamaha Young Performing Artists.  But no worries, I will be back bright and early at 7:00 am tomorrow.  Quite possibly not writing blogs, due to the minor issue that my brain doesn't begin to function until late afternoon, but you will be updated!  Promise!

Musically yous,

Kayela ☺

Hello all and welcome to day two of the Leadership Weekend Experience for our Summer Symposium 2008!

First, I feel bad leaving out a few of the later activities that took place yesterday evening after the blog post. In the second half of the afternoon, I sat in one of the experienced leader sessions for returning students, hosted by Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser. Not only was the 90-minute session inspiring - with his heart-felt stories - Dr. Tim had a way of incorporating humor and teamwork with a slight bit of competition to get the kids rallied up! At the end of the day, I had the honor of sitting in on the closing session of day one, hosted by comedian Buzz Sutherland. Mr. Sutherland's humor reached out to our young high-school students, but kept a certain twist that held captive our adult audience. There were numerous points throughout the evening where the entire auditorium rolled with laughter. For instance, Mr. Sutherland liked to describe the state of Illinois as "corn, corn, corn, corn, corn, corn, Cracker Barrel, corn, corn, corn, Cracker Barrel, corn, corn, corn." Which, coming from someone in the Midwest, is so true! Another popular track used for humor was the dancing by a few of our campers alongside Mr. Sutherland. What do you do? Act confused, bob your head, and move around slowly. It was at that point when camper one decided his moves were better and broke into a rowdy all around body shake which consisted of very large convulsions! Following Mr. Sutherland's act, the students were glad to find a surprise pizza party on the mezzanine on the second floor of the Bone Student Center. Students received Leadership T-shirts along with markers, allowing them to leave their autographs, and marks on their fellow campers, literally! Alongside the shirt signing and pizza, excellent music was playing in the background which led our campers into their very own dance competitions and dance offs, which were so amusing to watch!!

Moving onto day two of the Leadership Weekend Experience, most of the day was spent out at Timber Pointe, a wooded park with loads of activities about twenty minutes away from the ISU campus. One hundred and ten of our returning leadership students joined us there today alongside about 70 students suffering from Muscular Dystrophy. Now you might be asking yourself, how can an outdoor park teach kids about leadership. A question I asked myself on the way there, and even once I first arrived. However, after interviewing some of the students 40 feet in the air on a high ropes course, and participating in many of the activities, the answer became quite clear. Not only were these kids having a blast, they were also learning about teamwork, something that is strongly emphasized here at the camp. There were partners in the high ropes course, not only for encouragement and reinforcement, but also for safety. Some pairs were able to feel so comfortable with each other and trusting, they took the "leap of faith" together, a harnessed, free fall from 20 feet in the air!

The point of the high ropes course in itself was to take these kids out of their comfort zone. It is difficult for these students, the new leaders of their bands, to understand where some of the new kids are coming from. "Everyone is scared as a freshman, wondering whether or not they will perform well, fit in, etc. What we are trying to do with these kids here is create that fear in them again by taking them out of their comfort zone. If we can do that, they will better relate to new students in the fall," said one faculty member managing the course. Another aspect was teamwork. The campers had to learn to not only help themselves, but also to help someone else by reaching beyond their maximum point. Some students, don't get me wrong, were ecstatic and ready to jump in. However, being 40 feet in the air was slightly intimidating for many, causing their partners to encourage, and push them past their already known limit.

Another interesting activity at Timber Pointe, and new to the whole camp this year, was the initiative of a horse whisperer. How did this tie into camp and leadership? Another good question! Horses, as we all know, don't speak English. But yet, they can be trained, and seem to understand. How do they do this? The same as other animals, training and body language! In order to communicate with the horse, Spark, the trainer had to find other means to communicate with him, which he did, using an empty plastic bottle and small amounts of pressure. If the horse needed to turn, pressure was put on him in one spot, if he needed to back up, pressure was applied to another area, etc. And then it was the students' turn! In a field of silence, pairs lined up with plastic bottles and a sheet of instructions, as simple as clapping and spinning in a circle. The catch? No words were used. Instructions were given via pressure and knock until the activity was carried out by the partner. Another amusing one to watch! 

The day also included teamwork activities such as the tire swing climb, the tire over the pole, and the 'A' stick race, which by far seemed the most difficult. Not only did campers have to listen to the counter, they had to pull together and pay attention, spot the rider and steady the stick, at which they did an excellent job!

Rounding off the trip included an amazing zip line by Music for All's own President and CEO Scott McCormick, and an amazing drum circle lead by Matt Savage. Not only were Summer Symposium campers included in the circle, but 70 children suffering from muscular dystrophy, and about 50 or more Harley Davidson riders. A random mix and a breath-taking experience, watching so many different people all come together with one unison heart beat!
 
Now I hope you are ready for an exciting day tomorrow, where the rest of our campers, about another 900 students will be joining us bright and early for the first day of the Summer Symposium. We here at MFA headquarters are so excited to see new and familiar faces!  Our staff is here, the SWAGs are ready and the faculty and clinicians are completely ecstatic! 

Tune in tomorrow evening to see how it all goes!

Musically yours,

Kayela

Hello parents and music fans and welcome to the 2008 Summer Symposium blog!  I'm Kayela Smith, the marketing intern here at Music for All, and throughout the course of the week, I will be keeping you updated on most of the activities that your children are participating in. However, I will not be able to be in 20 places at once, so I will do my best to get a decent mix of all of the different tracks including color guard, drum major, percussion, jazz, and so much more!

I am happy to report that day one of the Leadership Weekend Experience has gone quite well.  All of the members of staff and Team SWAG got an early start at 7:00 am, only to find a line already forming outside of registration, and causing us to open the doors early! Thanks to the 61 members of Team SWAG, registration this year was one of the smoothest so far.  Although it helped that 305 of the over 500 students here for leadership weekend arrived last night to get their room assignments and dorm keys. We had a few hold ups in the drum major and late registration lines, but only because there were so many of them, which we are totally OK with!

While Team SWAG hurried to finish up the last minute registrations, the rest of the students headed off to University High School in order to take part in the opening session! The Symposium started off with introductions by Norm Ruebling, director of students here at the Symposium; Eric Martin, Executive Vice President and COO of Music for All; Erin, one of our on-site nurses, followed by an inspiring talk given by the one and only Mr. Fran Kick! Not only is Mr. Kick teaching your children about the three main life rules, but he is also teaching them to lead by example because actions speak louder than words. Some of the things he went over will help these students to better assist in their bands this fall.

Also, I am happy to announce that there are no injuries thus far! Yay for having safe campers! Although the nurses might seem bored, they greatly appreciate the lack of medical issues!

That's all for now, but tune in early tomorrow for updates on this evening's activities, and all the exciting events of tomorrow!

Musically yours,

Kayela

The 2008 Summer Symposium begins this Saturday with the arrival of Leadership Weekend Experience participants. The Music for All staff is onsite at Illinois State University and are busy setting up the room which will become Music for All Symposium Headquarters for the next ten days.