Newton Marching Eagles update!!
We would like to update everyone on the 2020 Newton Marching Eagles marching season. With the latest ISBE release for return to school plan we have been able to imagine what fall will look like. When we return in the fall we will be limited to a total of 50 students at one time, with several other recommendations to apply to our class.
50 is much better than 10 – where we were a few weeks ago!
This is now the time to reimagine what we CAN do in our classrooms – to focus on the individual student and their musical development. Don’t focus on what we CAN’T do. Look at the “HOW” not necessarily the “WHAT” and let’s keep music education alive in our classroom.
For those in the marching band world…what we do WILL be different. We have to accept that. There may not be opportunities to perform a full marching band halftime or competitive show…there most likely won’t be marching band competitions to attend or parades to march in but we can still provide opportunities for our students to perform. We can do things we have not been able to do before – Engage with your community, support your athletic teams, play for fans as they tailgate, share and take our music out into the community. It’s time to REIMAGINE!
At this point today we have already been informed that U of I Marching Band championships, Illinois state marching band championships, EIU marching panther competition, and two other competitions that we attend have been canceled for the 2020 season. Additionally there are several other schools meeting with administrators to make their decisions for the fall.
Things for the Newton Marching Eagles will look VERY different based on these parameters. No matter what, we are going to make this happen, we are going to teach like never before, we are going to engage with our students through a smaller group setting, we are going to perform for our fans and engage with our school community, our local community…AND we are going to have a blast making this happen. But, it WILL be different.
We must engage with our students and provide opportunities for them to be socially and emotionally engaged. They need us to make the right decision for their overall safety and well-being.
Newton Marching Eagles -The Time is NOW! We can do this…focus on the “HOW” and let’s make this happen!
We will still have a drumline and a full pit to perform a full drumline show, we will still be working with colorguard after school to give opportunities to perform, and work on improving our skills, and we will still be able to work with the band to perform where we can while instructing only 50 students at a time. We will focus this year on music that we can perform and entertain.
This being said, the Newton Marching Eagles staff is working together to plan on creating opportunities for every student to be engaged when we arrive back in the fall. Summer camps for July will be canceled while we prepare for a different path for the fall!!
This has been a very difficult decision to make and has been made with the Newton Marching Eagles faculty, administration, a collaboration of high school directors from across the state of Illinois, and the director of bands at U of I, EIU, and McKendree.
While this is not the season we were hoping for, we still want to create a positive atmosphere where we can educate our students and still give them great opportunities to learn, perform, and have FUN!
