Recruiting: The Ongoing Process – Part One
by Bruce Pearson

Each year band directors are faced with the challenge of recruiting students into their ensembles. This recruiting should not be only for new members, but wise directors understand the importance of “recruiting” existing members into their ensembles for the following school year. The Gemeinhardt, Inc. Company has researched why or why not students participate, stay in, or drop out of the band programs. While there are many reasons, those that can be affected by the band director can be grouped into four categories:

1. Public Awareness
2. Program Administration
3. Communication
4. Teaching Strategies

     In this issue of Kjos Band News, public awareness will be examined.
A vital band program must have high visibility. Students will want to participate in a group where they are noticed and their efforts acknowledged. The following are proven activities that will help in “Recruiting: The Ongoing Process”:

1. Prepare a video of your “satisfied customers” (band students) and play the video to the new students that are being recruited.
   
   
2. Organize a “Super Recruiter” contest to see who can recruit the most new students for next year’s band.
   
   
3. Display pictures of “celebrities” with music testimonials.
   
   
4. Have high school band members speak to the “recruits” to express the value of participating in band.
   
   
5. Have the beginning band play a concert for the entire school and talk about each instrument.
   
   
6. Play a demonstration concert for the Parent Teacher Association at the start of the school year (First Concert: A Demonstration Concert by Bruce Pearson will be published for this purpose by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company).
   
   
7. Develop a Band Booster Newsletter.
   
   
8. Write articles, including pictures, for your local newspaper about band activities.
   
   
9. Produce a “Band-O-Rama” Concert where all band members in your community participate first in their separate bands. Conclude with a massed band selection. Ode to Joy arranged by Robert Longfield and published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company was written for this purpose. It is an arrangement of the famous Beethoven theme written at three difficulty levels, Grade 1, 2, and 3. Using this piece allows all the band students the opportunity to play at the same time while at their appropriate level of difficulty.
   
   
10. Be mindful of recruiting balanced instrumentation: Recruit “leaders” on every instrument.

     Using these ideas will increase the public awareness of the band program in your community. If you have additional ideas that you want to share with your colleagues, send those ideas to Kjos Band News.

About Bruce Pearson

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