By CURT HARLER
Beyond music, Blue Band offers members the chance to practice and expand leadership skills. Recognizing this as an opportunity that will serve students well beyond graduation, the Blue Band will soon roll out its Leadership Program.
The program will last six weeks. It will focus on community leadership. Most of the instruction and participation will be done virtually although there will be some in-person sessions later on-campus.
“It’s a pretty robust program,” says Dr. Greg Drane, director of athletic bands. The program will involve a sizable chunk of the Band’s members. Dr. Drane says about 70 students are expected to participate in its first iteration. This coterie will include squad leaders, rank guides and the Blue Band’s officer board.
The curriculum (which will not be for-credit) will be developed in conjunction with an outside specialist group. The second meeting between the Blue Band and the consultants was set for early July.
The students will delve into topics like communications, team building, culture building with performance sections, and similar leadership necessities.
Each student will do an evaluation of their own temperament to see what their leadership style might be, how they react to certain stresses, how they best can communicate given their personal proclivities. While the program certainly should bolster the spirit and effectiveness of the Band, it also will prove valuable as students graduate and move into jobs where the leadership skills they have learned will help them be more effective in the broader community.
