Thursday, January 22, 2009

The stress is getting to me

We are getting so close to our first performance. It's tomorrow night (Friday) at our home basketball game so that we can get our first show jitters out of the way. Then, we wake up bright and early Saturday to head to our first contest. I think they are ready. We had a really good practice tonight and I think they are finally understanding what it takes to put this whole show together and make it look good :)

However...Im a little peeved at the present. Somehow, the winterguard has become the red-headed stepchildren of the school. Two years ago (I was only a tech), we were kicked out of our Elementary school for various reasons due to the director then. So, we were pushed back to the high school to find space when there was a gym available. We also used our Jr. High (attached to the high school) when we really had no where else to go. Well, this year, I was told we were not allowed to use the elementary school, for various reasons (all stupid), so we were again having to find space in the high school. I have been lucky enough that when we cant get a gym in our high school, we could get one in the Jr. High. Which honestly is still pretty crappy considering we are a high school function, but of course, sports takes precedence, even when that sport isnt even in season (baseball and softball workouts). It's pretty much bullshit.

So....we used the Jr. High on Saturday and left our tarp out overnight because we needed to do some touchup and glue down our fabric. Apparently that was a big no, no. One of the custodians came in (with her family) and threw a fit because they were on the schedule for the gym at a certain time. We were putting the tarp up at this time mind you.

I received an email yesterday from the Jr. High principal stating we are no longer allowed to use their facilities because we were painting our tarp, using the gym when not scheduled, and left the gym trashed which caused more work for the custodians the next day. Okay....first off, I was doing "touch-up" and it would have been done no matter what gym I was in. Secondly, I ALWAYS make sure we clean up after ourselves when we leave a gym. Thirdly, no I wasnt on the schedule, it was a Sunday for crying out loud!! I mean really, come on. So Im a little pissed right now and Im about to take everything to our Superintendent and tell him how ridiculous things have gotten. Including the fact that we are a school function and everything else takes precedence over our program no matter what it is.

At this point, we are pretty much screwed on gym time. And if we dont have a gym to practice in...it pretty much defeats the whole purpose of winterguard. Anyone have any suggestions on this situation? Our band director is pretty mad that we are being treated like this and is about to do something about it himself, which would be really nice. It would actually be really nice if we got just a little bit of respect occasionally.

Sorry about the rant. I needed to vent and this is where I vent :) If you stuck with that, wow, way to go! You are a trooper!!

3 comments:

Katie said...

So I mean whats wrong with red-heads? Got a problem with us gingers? haha. Not cool Meg. :)

It is pretty ridiculous that they won't allow the guard to have gym time. There is no reason to keep getting kicked out of these places. Have you talked to South Terrace? Its dumb to have to go to an elementary school but at this point any gym would help.

Whitney said...

That's ridiculous! They always treat the band and guard like that, and then treat the football players and cheerleaders like royalty. (Well, that's what they did at my school anyway.)

Faith said...

Yeah, where's your band director on this one? You need some support.