Mission Minute: Sectional Support

In a band room filled with young musicians, every instrument matters. But for middle school students just beginning their musical journey, the right support can make all the difference. 

“Sectional support is funding from the foundation that allows me to hire extra teachers,” explains Laura Vander Haeghen, Director of Bands at Eastwood Middle School.  At the start of each school year, The Washington Township Schools Foundation provides funding to the band directors at each of our district’s three middle schools. This “sectional support” allows directors to bring additional teachers into their classrooms to work with students in small groups. Avery Granlund, Director of Bands at Westlane, elaborates: “I’ve had mostly retired band directors and specialists on their instrument come in to work with different groups of students. They might pull out the clarinets one period and they might pull out the alto saxophones next period, and then flutes another period. And then there’s other people that come in and they just work with clarinets all day.” “I make sure I hire teachers who are really good at what they do so our students are getting the top instructors in the city of Indianapolis,” adds David Ebersole, Director of Bands at Northview.

These sectional support teachers are vital, especially for students who are learning to play an instrument for the very first time. “My very first year teaching here, I tried to teach all of the instruments at the same time. With no extra help. And with that  many students in a room playing up to six different instruments, it’s really challenging.  This year, for example, I had 47 brand new woodwind students, so they’d never played an instrument before,” explains Vander Haeghen. Ebersole has seen these numbers grow over the last several years. “Because band, orchestra, choir are now required, our numbers are huge. I have close to 300 students and they’ve (the coaches) worked with almost all of them.”

When students enter middle school, some have previous music experience, and others are starting from scratch. Vander Haeghen believes sectional support helps level the playing field. “Every student, regardless of if they could come to summer band camp or if they could take private lessons, they had a strong foundation to start the year. It helped them feel more comfortable with their classmates as well, and knowing who they could ask for help because they were in a smaller group and got to know each other better.”

The Band Directors bring coaches in during the first semester to get all students off to a great start, then strategically changes tactics during second semester. Vander Haeghen explains: “I can also use the sectional funding to help when we’re preparing for the ISSMA organizational contest. Or if there are students where I’m seeing there are some skills lacking and they could really benefit from small group instruction, this money will help with that.“

This early support sets students up for success far beyond middle school. “Making sure that those kids had the best start on their instruments makes it more likely that they’ll be able to continue in the program because they feel confident in their skills,” shares Vander Haeghen. Ebersole explains this significance: “When the students get to North Central, they’ve had much more experience. They’re better players, they’re more advanced than what they would be without the sectional coaches. So it helps the program through the entire district.”

With sectional support, every student gets the chance to grow, to shine, and to discover the joy of making music—together.

To learn more about how WTSF supports our middle school bands, check out the video below.

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