In the wake of the coronavirus, we music teachers have unique challenges we are facing. In addition to delivering content (i.e. teaching) in new and innovative ways, we likely are facing uncertainty with our upcoming spring performances, festivals, recruiting activities, and trips.
I teach north of Seattle. My school was one of the first in the US to close for a confirmed case of the virus last Monday, so the realities of what we need to think about and plan for have been at the forefront of my mind.
The long-term ramifications on our programs both financially and with future enrollment as this hits while kids are registering for next year’s classes could be devastating – unless we are proactive in how we are handle this with them.
Whether it’s the prospect of losing tens of thousands of dollars that have been invested in upcoming festivals and trips or spending hundreds of hours preparing for concerts and other performances that may or may not happen, it’s all up in the air right now.
Right now is the time we should be approaching the peak opportunities of our year, enjoying the activities we’ve planned where we take our music on the road, play for school concerts, graduations, trips, and other events.
Instead, we
are in limbo.
We don’t
know if events are going to be cancelled or if our schools will even allow us
to take the trips. And we won’t know until we see how things develop over the
next few weeks.
But we must
be prepared, both musically and financially, in the event that we’ll still be
able to do these activities.
You may be wondering – How am I supposed to teach my students when they can’t or don’t come to school. Am I equipped to teach ensembles remotely or do I have another plan? What about logistics for preparing our ensembles if school’s closed for a few weeks but we end up being able to go on a trip in a month or two?
There’s a
lot of money at stake.
If you’re in
a situation like I am, you’ve signed contracts with vendors that are not refundable
and your community has rallied behind your kids and program to raise hundreds of
thousands of dollars that may never get to be used as intended.
How will you
handle this and how will you navigate the legal and personal challenges this will
bring?
There’s a lot of momentum and energy at stake as you’ve been building up to these culminating experiences.
And what will happen as your students select courses for next year? Some of them may feel like the rug’s being pulled out from under them and be hesitant to sign up for your class (or at least future trips) again next year.
There’s a
lot of fear around all the unknowns, for kids, for teachers, for parents, for
administrators, for our communities, and beyond.
What are we supposed to do when the momentum that we’ve been building suddenly comes crashing to a confusing halt? Students and their families will be looking to us for answers. We may not have them all, but we need to be prepared to ask the questions and have the difficult conversations.
If you are planning a trip for future years, what are you learning from this situation that changes how you proceed? How does this situation inform you when it comes to trip insurance, contingency plans, and other preparatory activities? Will your community have enough faith to sign up for future trips if they end up losing a lot of money due to unavoidable cancellations this year?
What are you doing to ensure your students don’t make any rash decisions about enrolling next year based on what will likely be a couple of emotional months, no matter how things pan out? And why is it important that you have a vision for how you are going to lead the conversations and handle the questions from kids and parents? Are you aware of what you can and can’t decide vs what you need to run by an administrator?
If you don’t
even know where to start or what questions to ask, you’re not alone. This is
new territory for all of us.
I was supposed to adjudicate a festival next SATURDAY but due to cancellations, I’ll no longer be doing that, so I am going to host a FREE WEBINAR for music teachers who want a little help navigating the complexities of the fallout on our music programs as a result of the impact from coronavirus. I don’t have all the answers, but since I’ve been teaching and traveling with group for over 30 years, I do have a very good idea of where to start asking questions.
I hope you’ll join me in two ways:
1) Fill out this short survey to let me know how the coronavirus is impacting you and your program.
2) REGISTER for the webinar and join me LIVE on Saturday, March 14 at 9:00 am PST.
