The Incredible Color Guard Dog

Sasha takes being a guard dog to a whole new level. You may have seen her in our vlogs, maybe you came across her during a contest and REALLY wanted to pet her, maybe we were at a point where you were even allowed to! No matter what, she's been our most popular member at Spintonix, and it's easy to see why. But why on earth even have a service dog for a color guard organization? This is her story.

To start at the beginning, Sasha was abused as a puppy. Therefore she was stolen from her abusive owner and ended up with me. Some might say she has been spoiled, but with as much training as I put on her, she deserved every bacon snack and snuggle on the couch that she received. As I got to know Sasha better and she grew into a dog with human-like personality, I realized that she was incredibly empathetic. She could tell if someone was ill, tired, or just having a bad day, and she knew exactly how to interact with them. I thought that would be the perfect personality for a dog to become a therapy animal. Thus, the training began. It was not terribly intense, but I enrolled her in obedience class and then did a lot of reading about service dogs and how they should be trained to operate in public. Just working with her once in a while rather than on a daily basis helped her to learn without getting stressed out, and the training ended up lasting multiple years. With me working on my degree and then my career, there just wasn't any real push to complete her training and get her career off the ground.

The one day, she became necessary and we didn't even know it. I lived alone at the time, so I regularly took Sasha to SIG rehearsals with me. I didn't have anyone at home who could care for her while I was gone for the entire weekend, and she couldn't stand to be left alone. But something about having her at rehearsals changed the entire team. She spent a lot of time greeting all of the members, sitting with them, and even "helping" them stretch. When they had bad days or felt like crying, she would simply sit next to them and let them pet her until they felt better. Many times a bad week could be dissolved by coming to Spintronix on the weekend and spending a few minutes with Sasha. On contest weekends she would wait faithfully by the door for us to return and no matter whether we felt joy or utter defeat, she was there to support it all.

A couple of years after Sasha had gotten used to spending all of her weekends with the SIG crew, we had a new member who had a prescription for an emotional support animal. However, this member's ESA of choice wasn't very mobile or portable. This caused us to return home from competitions very early so that the required amount of daily ESA time could be met. However, we learned that the ESA prescription didn't have a requirement of being the specific animal that the member owned, and therefore if there was another registered ESA that could come with us to competitions, the prescription would be filled. Thus began the most intense training in Sasha's life, but she loved every second of it.

After earning her certification as an emotional support animal, Sasha accompanied the team to all of our winter guard competitions. She became a token of luck for our members to all pet her before they took the floor, and she's always there when anyone needs her. She's resolved conflicts and built people up after emotional breakdowns. She's sat through long contest days even though she doesn't understand color guard herself, but she knows what her job is and she does it well. She quickly became a celebrity in her own right, as many of the other guards in our circuit knew her name and wanted to know her story. Most understand that they aren't allowed to pet a service animal, which is good because Sasha needs to serve "her kids" on the Spintronix guard first, but those who hang around long enough know that they can sneak in a scratch or two once all of the SIG members are busy. I even firmly believe that her very presence was the difference that pushed our team to take gold in our class at state championships this year. Having her as a member of the team has been the greatest blessing to our organization.


If you have questions about Sasha, leave them in the comments section! We would love to answer anything about her that you are interested to know! And if you see us at a contest make sure you ask before you call her name or pet her. :-)

Lower two photos are by ©2017 Belinda Johnson.
http://www.bjohnsonphotography.com/

<3 Jackie

Why do students keep quitting my color guard?

It's the beginning of winter guard season!
You've done recruitment, held your auditions, written your warm-ups, selected flags and costumes, and you are ready to put a beautiful show on the floor.
Then you have a student tell you that they can't do color guard this season.
Well, that's fine. You've only invested maybe two audition rehearsals and five minutes in a staff meeting on this kid so far this season, never mind that they are a third year veteran member, at least they quit early enough that you don't have to fill a hole in the show drill.
Then, a couple of practices later, after you've announced the staff's selections for weapon line, you have ANOTHER student quit. It doesn't seem to matter if they are earning points and selling fundraisers and even signing contracts, it just keeps happening.
How long can this go on into the season? What are you doing wrong?

The truth is that it can continue to go on indefinitely until you have a core set of dedicated students who believe in what the team is trying to accomplish. Just because students are quitting doesn't necessarily mean you are doing anything wrong, although it's always good to evaluate your techniques in each step of the process, it just means that the students weren't a good fit for the program in the first place.
    For instance, one student might be quitting because their parents don't understand how the process of winter guard works. They think they can wait until AFTER auditions to explain to their student that they aren't going to allow him or her to participate in winter guard until he or she has better grades in class. However, grades came out BEFORE auditions, and the next grade card doesn't come out until AFTER the winter guard has learned the entire show. You can't simply pull a student out of winter guard for the entire time the team is learning their show and bonding and expect them to simply step back in halfway through the season, learn the show, and get along with everyone. But the real problem here is that the parents don't understand that.
    Another type of student who quits is the one looking for self-glory. I have had so many self-glorifying students come through the door at Spintronix that it's pathetic. They don't generally last long, just one or two seasons. They often have a delusional idea that they are better than others at color guard and therefore they simply DESERVE all of the attention, solos, and any other spotlight that can be granted to them. The truth is that while it might be exciting to have a self-glorifying member on the guard who really IS the best performer (which generally happens when a guard program is very young), over time these performers become toxic to the group as a whole. As the rest of the group progresses and grows together, the self-glorifying member generally stays at the same level because they refuse to truly work with the team, stuck in their belief that they are still the best. Then, when they aren't chosen for a select portion of the team, or handed a solo, they will often resort to one of two things; 1. stirring up drama with the rest of the team, or 2. simply quitting. If you've got a REALLY self-involved performer then they will stir up drama with the rest of the team and then finally quit. These are the types who generally want to "go out with a bang" so they will say things they think are cutting, trying to bring the whole team or even the entire organization down to their level, demonstrating how they believe the team will fail without their special talent. In truth, in every situation I have ever had of  self-glorifying member quitting, the team has actually flourished above and beyond their former achievements after that toxic member was gone.
    There can, of course, be a host of other reasons. Students can have a problem with authority, they can be non-conformists who look at color guard as a suppression of individuality rather than creation of art, others might just have a lot going on at home so that they can't handle the stress of being on a team.
    Trying to get to the bottom of these kinds of situations can become time-consuming, and I feel bad because every group goes through this as a stage of their growth. But it's just a stage, and as you learn to simply let these students go rather than worry about the reasons why they are quitting, you will begin to notice more patterns and personality types that don't work well with your program. It makes cutting those students during the audition process easier as the seasons march on, and you will have less quitters in your later years.

The most important thing is to keep things positive no matter what, and deal with the blows as they are delivered. Don't be discouraged over the one student who couldn't hack it and had to quit, focus on the incredible students who ARE there, who are sticking around and have faith in you and your program. Those are the ones who should be occupying your time and receiving your attention! Besides, it's easier to clean a guard of 16 than a guard of 25 anyway...

<3 Jackie

How to be a good parent of your teenager - from their teacher

Everyone wants to be a good parent. And honestly, like any profession or even any hobby in the world, the greatest parents are the ones who are constantly seeking to improve the way they do things. So thank you so much for being a good parent and looking up this topic to begin with! I don't want it to be harsh, but I do want to come across as direct and true because there are some realities that not all good parents want to face when it comes to raising their teenagers.

1. Don't baby them. In all of my years of teaching I have been lucky in that I have only had a few conversations with parents like this; they come to the conferences to give excuses for why their students are the way they are. The truth is this: they are the way you are because you raised them to be that way. Good or bad, it doesn't matter to me. My job now is to help mold them into the best possible human beings they can be. So don't make excuses for them, look at their strengths and weaknesses and ask me how you can help them do better.

2. Teach them to get up on their own. I once spoke to an Olympic athlete and asked him what it took to be in his position. He said "It is all a mental game that has nothing to do with what you choose to be successful at. If you can't even get yourself out of bed in the morning, you've already lost." The same goes for being successful at school; they have to get up on their own.

3. Let them have something to be excited about. If your kid has poor grades, doesn't like school, and isn't involved in any other activities besides going to classes and then going home to play video games, I'm going to push your kid to get involved. There are sports, clubs, teams, and all kinds of activities that your student can do - and he or she needs to find something that he or she enjoys to be motivation to keep on going.

4. Realize that I'm here to help. I know it's sad to say that there are some teachers in the world who aren't terribly interested in whether your kid succeeds or fails. There are teachers who don't care about teaching at all, but what do you expect in such an overworked and underpaid profession? Figure out how to recognize the teachers who ARE interested in your child and who are doing things not only to improve your kid's education but to improve themselves as educators. Simple clues like seeing them admit that they've made a mistake on something like a grade book, or even the fact that they are entertaining a conversation with you about your child, those are good clues into what your teacher is like.

5. Make sure they have responsibilities at home. This can be tough to balance, but students need to realize that they should contribute at home in addition to keeping up their grades and being involved at school. If they don't have home chores they tend to grow up to be workaholics, not caring so much in the running of the household and instead focusing too much on other things like work, social life, and anything other activities outside the home.

These are five things I've noticed are consistent in the most successful students I've had in my classes! Not every single A-student has all five attributes in their parents, but the more of these five they have, the better chance they have of being successful. There may be others who disagree with these five, but these are the points that I've seen in the last ten years of teaching in the areas that I've been in (mostly southern Missouri). If you have noticed other points as a teacher, or if you think any of these should be expanded upon as a parent, please leave them in the comment section! I'm sure more inquiring parents will want to know, and it would be great for other teachers to share!

How big should my flag be?

Here's a frequently asked question from many of our viewers and readers:
HOW BIG SHOULD MY FLAG BE IN PROPORTION TO MY POLE?

There are a lot of schools of thought on this concerning effect and design and all kinds of other ideas. However, the majority of you are probably just curious as to standard sizes. I present to you, the standard sizes:


Now, what if you have a big, beautiful ballad and you want to have just lots of fabric everywhere? Can  you put a flag with a 45" sleeve on a 6 foot pole? Absolutely! These are just the standard sizes according to the rule of halves. You generally want your normal spinning flags to have a sleeve length that is half the length of your entire pole. This is not a set in stone sort of rule, or one that judges are looking for you to follow with every single show. It's always going to depend on the effect you want to create on the field. However, this is great to know for training purposes or for ordering flags that are the same size. 

Need to order a practice flag? Here are some direct links!

• Flag pole (with caps and weights)
• Silk
• Tape

Good luck this season!

<3 Jackie

Virtual Solo and Ensemble

Hello Spinthusiasts!

I want to tell you about a cool program that we started this summer at Spintronix called the Virtual Solo and Ensemble. It's an online color guard contest where you send in a video of yourself or you with a group of friends spinning and you are put up against other videos to compete for the virtual championship! My purpose in doing this is to help color guard performers constantly push one another to get better. If you are at home spinning during the off-season you might not be pushed to do your best simply because you are out in your yard or at a Wal-Mart parking lot or something without an audience. This contest will give you a HUGE audience and also some competitors to go up against. This way, when you see your competition tossing a rifle six and spinning around underneath it, you will be more inclined to practice your sixes!

There are also two versions of the contest, because I want to make sure we reach everyone and have different levels of judging available. First, there's the free version. It's a cool contest that is set up using a YouTube playlist, then fans "judge" the entries by liking their videos. The videos on the playlist will constantly change positions during the judging period based on the most popular video, and the one with the most likes will be the winner and move on to the next level of competition. Judges who want to give feedback will leave it in the form of comments on the videos and my hope is that they will be able to give you plenty of advice to get better at color guard! Plus, in order to keep everything positive, thumbs-down votes will not be counted against anyone, and negative comments will be deleted.

The second version of the contest is the paid version. In this version, your video will be looked at by a color guard professional and the winner will be selected based on technique, musicality, choreography, and performance. The entry fee is only $5 so it's accessible to everyone who can pay using a credit/debit card or PayPal account. The winner of the paid contest will receive a cash prize of half of the contest entry fees. That means if there are 10 entries, the winner will receive $25, if there are 50 entries, the winner will receive $125! We won't launch the contest until we have a minimum of 10 entries so the prize can stay a little sweeter.

Entry into the contest is simple. Just go HERE and click on the entry form that you want to use (free vs. paid), fill it out, and include a link to your video. The best part is, there are NO age limits! This would be a great way for you to get to spin with your siblings, instructors, students, friends, family members, and basically anyone you would like! So don't wait around, go get that video ready and enter it in our contest TODAY!!

Some other questions I've been fielding that I DEFINITELY want to answer for you guys;

Q. When will How to Color Guard videos be coming back??

A. As soon as I have time! I'm currently planning my wedding for this summer, plus remodeling a house, and writing for four color guards. Look for our instructional videos to start coming back around August.

Q. But I made a request, are you ever going to get to it?

A. YES! Our request list is long, but I promise we will fulfill EVERY SINGLE VIDEO on that list!!

Q. What happened to Makeup Mondays?

A. Sam has had a busy summer as well, but keep an eye out for more of her videos to come back around DCI championships week... AND she's fulfilling requests still so submit those at any time!!

Q. What's next for Spintronix?

A. Our 2018 winter guard auditions will take place this OCTOBER, so if you have been thinking about trying out, don't hesitate.

Q. I want to be a member of SIG! What do I need to know??

A. For a comprehensive list, check out this page HERE. Otherwise, I would definitely advise you to practice your basics at least on flag this summer. If you know how to do weapons, that is also a plus!

Q. Does it cost to try out for SIG?

A. Yes, but our membership fees are WAY below your average independent winter guard! For starters, auditioning is only $10 per person.

If you have more questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact us! You can send an e-mail to me, Jackie, directly at spintronixguard@gmail.com or you can get a quicker answer by sending a message on our Facebook page and any one of our staff or volunteers will be happy to help you out!

<3 Jackie

Taking color guard to Illinois

This weekend let me tell you. It was so great I loved it, it was so fun and full of surprises! On friday we had practice and made sure everything was perfect! We had so much fun. We had to go to bed at 10:00 because we had to wake up at 4 IN THE MORNING!! LIKE WWWHHHHAAAATTTTT?! haha. In the morning we got on the bus and basically everyone fell asleep haha. I mean it was 4:30 am so, everyone was super tired. Oh and by the way we were on our way to Illinois for a competition. We then got there and got ready to preform. We went in the hallway and did our "ritual's" haha. We then preformed. We didn't do our best. Alot went wrong. Some of us did our best and some of us messed up but that's OK. We then had where they told us what place we got. And we thought we would get 2nd like a really low grade. BUT THEN WE GOT A HIGH GRADE.... AND 1ST!!!!! We then celebrated by eating Culver's. And then went home.

<3 Kirsten

Spinning in Memphis

This year we were invited to come to a color guard competition in Memphis, TN. I have a very solid history with Memphis since I marched Memphis Sound Drum and Bugle Corps many years ago before they tragically folded. I am still very good friends with many people who I marched with, as several of them are members of the staff at Spintronix in addition to teaching at their own schools. We decided to rent an Airbnb instead of getting a hotel, and the benefits of that choice have been astounding. It brought our group closer together as there were common spaces, and they could go to one another's rooms. There was also plenty of space in the yard for rehearsal! Winning at Memphis and also breaking our all-time score record was almost easy because of the closeness of bonds that the performers had, and how excited they were to be in a new place. I highly recommend doing a trip to any group who needs to initiate a closer bond between group members.

Jackie

Memphis weekend was one weekend I'll never forget. We all showed up early to help pack and then headed out that same night! There was no sleeping at the Angelica building. 🙂 After a long ride we arived at our temporary home sweet home and all proceeded to pass out into our beds. We woke up the next day and became an out door guard, that includes fighting sticks, marching around the block, and learning popcorn marching. We left for the school and rocked the socks off our show before sprinting across the road for food! We spent a second crazy night (with no bedtime) then headed back to Angelica to unpack. 🙂

<3 Shandon

Hard Work with the Fam

The First time I walked into Spintronix I thought to myself, "Man I will never make this team because they are all very good at guard." I didn't think that I was good enough to be on it.  The team showed me different. As the saying goes there is no I in team. You learn how very true that is. We work very good as a team, but we work great as a family. This weekend we did a lot of cleaning, anything to make us better. We broke down all the weak parts and re-informed the members of the counts so that everyone was together. We did a lot of warm-ups that made our muscles hurt so bad from a long weekend of hard work. Getting ready for our next competition in Memphis. 

- Dannie

Let's see how far we've come

I will never forget the first time I walked into Spintronix rehearsal seven years ago. The lobby was tiny, the rooms were cold because we did not have heat, and we had to bring our own sleeping bags and blankets because we did not have beds. Our rehearsal space did not have heat either, which meant we had to wear lots of layers. We also cooked our breakfast on a hot plate. Despite all of these things, walking through that door was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

     Over the next few years, we made major improvements both in performance and in our rehearsal facilities. However, our greatest improvement was how we grew together as a family. Sure, we had some members leave and new members join, but everyone knew that we could depend on each other both on the floor and in everyday life. We celebrate life’s milestones with each other. Everything from birthdays and graduations all the way to weddings and having children.

     Today, we have heat in our whole facility, a real bed for each performer and staff member, and a full kitchen to prepare meals in. As the last remaining charter member, it is awe‑inspiring to stand in rehearsal now and look back on where we started. We have come so far in the last seven years, and I cannot wait to see where we are seven years from now. Because of this organization, I have discovered my passion and am on the path to making a career out of it. It has been a great honor to be a part of the growth and development of this amazing group through the years. 

Alicia Cernetisch

Seven-year veteran

First Competition!!!

This weekend was our first competition. Friday we did run-throughs all night. When we were done with that we finished taping our guns and loaded everything in the BUS!!!!! We got to use the bus finally. Also Friday night we learned that Sasha, Jackie’s dog, can go to competitions with us. Saturday morning we woke up at 7:00 am, then ate cinnamon rolls and loaded anything that we didn’t load that night. At 8:00am we left for Republic. We arrived at 10am, got signed in, and dressed. We did Neon and then went to warm-ups. Now it was time to perform! The performance went great. After lunch was awards. At awards we got 1st place!!! We got undressed and loaded up to go home.

- Cheyenne

Color Guard Audition Tips - Reprinted with Permission

It's that time of year; audition season!! Whether you are trying out for a winter guard, drum corps, or even a marching band (depending on where you are in the world) I have got some tips to help you have your best possible audition.

 

1. Do your research. If the organization you are auditioning for has a website, look them up. If they don't have a website, find them online, or better yet just CALL THEM. When doing research, you need to have two goals. First, you want to learn about the organization; their mission statement, their expectations, their previous shows, and so on. Be their biggest fan. Second, you want to know the audition expectations; both what they expect from you and what you can expect from them.

 

2. SLEEP!! I cannot stress how important a good night's sleep is. I know it's difficult to sleep the night before an audition because you might be excited or nervous, but drink some hot tea, do yoga, listen to a white noise machine (there are a lot of cool apps that do this if you have a smart device), and do whatever it takes to have the best sleep of your life. You will look healthier, feel better, and be far more prepared to put your best foot forward the next morning.

 

3. Dress appropriately. Hopefully during your research stage you found some dress guidelines that the organization has. Follow those as much as possible. If the organization doesn't have guidelines, my advice is to wear all black dance attire. This can include yoga pants, capris, tights, leggings, shorts, leotard, fitted t-shirt, tank top, and DEFINITELY a sports bra for the ladies. Dance shoes are your best option for footwear, and in most cases your jazz sneaker is the perfect combination. However, if all you have are sneakers just make sure they have good arch support (converse and other types of skate shoes are terrible for doing color guard).

 

4. Express yourself. As long as there isn't a guideline against it, add something to your outfit that sets you apart from the crowd. Having a pink hair bow, orange sports bra, or a brightly colored belt are all great ways to demonstrate your individual personality and get noticed. You want to make sure there is some visual that allows the staff to remember you and then discuss you during their meetings without knowing your name. If you aren't allowed to do this with your clothes, but you are bringing your own equipment, having something simple like a candy cane striped flag pole or a rifle with an oddly colored bolt (mine always had pink prism tape on the bolt) can help you stand out as well.

 

5. Arrive early. Show up at least 20 minutes but no more than an hour early for the audition. You want to make sure you have plenty of time to meet people, explore your surroundings, and get your body warmed up before the audition begins. Many auditions have warm-up time worked in to the actual audition time, however not ALL of them do so be prepared.

 

6. Pay attention. Listen to the staff and do what they tell you, of course that's obvious. However, if you want it you need to go in with a deeper attention to detail than you've ever had before. Listen to exactly what they say and do things exactly as they demonstrate right down to the placement of their pinky finger on their equipment (seriously, that's a big deal to a lot of instructors). Also, there are going to be veteran members there auditioning as well and they know what they need to do to get noticed and get in because they've done it before. Watch them, listen to the questions they ask, and even ask them for advice or assistance if you get the opportunity to chat.

 

7. Have a positive attitude. Even if things get tough - which, they are going to; why else would you be auditioning for a group unless you wanted to do something harder than what you already do? - make sure you keep your attitude positive. Negative attitudes are a quick way to get yourself cut because nobody wants to deal with that on their team. I know that's a frank way to put it but it's so true. I've cut incredible performers from my own guards before because they had negative attitudes or they liked to spread drama. Those are two things that color guards do not want any part of.

 

8. Perform everything. Just relax and let your personality shine through your performance. Smile when you're supposed to smile, look sad when you're supposed to look sad. Give all of your emotions over to the performing of the choreography and you can't go wrong.

 

I hope this entry is helpful for everyone who is auditioning this season! Good luck to you all and I hope you each earn a position that you deserve and you continue to work hard and grow all season long!

J.M. Hope

The fire team building hoop

After a weekend of several people missing we once again joined together at Angelica. We started out by doing our dance and flag warm ups and then it was time to get to work. This was our last weekend before our first competition! We started out by doing a short chunk through and then stopped to review after we got a little lost. We practiced the specific counts and moves over and over again until we couldn't get them wrong! We continued to do this, slowly adding more of the show as we go. We perfected arround half of the show when it was time for team building! We all got in a circle and turned sideways. We had to work together to get our feet and bodies in the right place position so that we could sit on the person behind us while the one in front of us could sit on us. It took a few tries to tweak it but we finally accomplished it as a team! Then we did another team building game that was my personal favorite. We had a set space and we had to pretend like there was a fire and this elastic green hoop was the exit. Everybody had to get through the exit within a set amount of time. We tried several different techniques but they failed. The tricky part was once you gave an idea you couldn't talk the next round. We worked as a team and paired up to get through the exit faster. We even made it with 5 seconds to spare! We then had 30 minutes till lights out. In the morning we were awoken to delicious biscuits and gravy! After breakfast we jumped right into our perfecting! We tweaked the counts a bit and before we knew it, it was lunch time! After lots of chunk throughs and run throughs it was time for chores. We made so much progress this weekend and I can't wait to see how we do at our first competition!

Stephanie 

Blogger - Reprinted with Permission

It's been a while. I sort of died on the internet here recently. Seriously though, it's difficult to keep up a full time life and a full time blog so I've been letting the latter slip from my fingers. I recently received an e-mail about creating a blog and getting serious about it though and I liked the idea. I looked into a couple of different sites where I could grow my own brand, and there are some cool options out there. However, I know I haven't been the most dedicated author in the past so I have made a decision; I am going to start back up blogging on here again once a week. If I can stick to it through Christmas then I'm going to start an actual full-on blog on a blog site and migrate all of my stuff there. I'll still keep the Facebook page of course! Especially if I can't live up to my own expectations... 

 

Anyway, I'm going to give everyone more color guard content. I have a lot of stories, tips, tutorials, and other stuff to share. And with the recent success of the Spintronix Color Guard YouTube channel's How to color guard video series, Jackie and I have been tossing around the idea of writing a book for the series, complete with instructional pictures and my wonderfully wordy explanations. You laugh, because it's true, you know I write way too many words when just a few will suffice; it's a technique I fell in love with during my high school writing classes because I often got praise for great persuasive or descriptive essays. I was a flop on writing for the newspaper though, just so you know! I've gotten better and I can recognize when I'm doing it, but that doesn't mean I stop. It's my thing and I'm sticking to it.

 

Like I said, I have a lot of stuff to write about and tell you all about, however I want to know what it is you are interested in hearing about too. Leave me a comment or send me a message. I promise I'll read them all personally and get back with you. I do have a lot of stuff going on in my life but my writing is super important to me. I'm also trying to make time to get Spinsation book 3 out to you guys in 2016. We will see how that goes, I can't make any promises because book publishing is a lot more involved than blogging. I know you are all waiting for it though, and it's definitely still happening!

J.M. Hope

Color Guard Rehearsal Structure for Success!

Instructors often tell me that they don't have enough time in rehearsal to really max out their students. They often wish for longer rehearsal blocks, more togetherness time with the team, and more control over the schedule. Every type of rehearsal schedule has its pros and cons, so here is a little bit about what we do at Spintronix that helps us out.

Location

We are one of the luckiest guards in the world because we have our own personal space. We can set up our rehearsal times without worrying about anyone else's practice schedule besides our own. That being said, this is an incredibly rare situation and you will need to be ready for all kinds of things when booking a rehearsal location. Chances are, it will be very difficult to get into a gym for every single rehearsal. Even when you do book a gym, a lot of times basketball teams are not terribly organized about recording their bookings and you will have a team come in anyway. Make sure you know and are on friendly terms with your coaches so that if this does happen, you can smooth over the situation with as few hurt feelings as possible.

What to teach...

Once you have location(s) booked, figure out what will be the best parts of your program to teach in the spaces that you have. Maybe you can get some dance studio time and only work on dance technique and choreography during those rehearsals. Maybe you can get some time in a local community center where you can spin, but the ceilings aren't quite high enough for tossing. Deciding ahead of time what you will teach during the rehearsal time is paramount to getting it done.

Block length vs. Breaks

Keeping students engaged for long stretches of time can be tough; they are young and full of energy, their minds wander, and they have an insatiable need for social time! If you get a long amount of time for a rehearsal (like an 8-hour Saturday) keep the breaks no more than two hours apart. However, getting students prepared and having a full rehearsal can take some time, so if you have to have shorter rehearsals daily during the week 1.5-2 hours is a good time frame to work with.

Planning Ahead

This is the number one downfall of SO MANY instructors I know, and the number one best quality of so many OTHER instructors I know... It's the thing that separates the good instructors from the great ones. Plan ahead. The best way that I have personally found I can do this is by making measurable goals. Example: my goal for this weekend's rehearsal is to teach the entire flag feature. Then maybe my goal for next weekend's rehearsal will be to get the entire flag feature clean. This will help you with timing everything in your rehearsals so that you aren't rushing to cram education into your students' brains but you also aren't experiencing a lot of down time.

Inform the Staff

If you have multiple people on your staff, make sure they all know the plan for each rehearsal as well. Things like what time to be there, what they are teaching, how much time they have to teach it, and especially what your goal for the rehearsal is. If you have your entire staff communicating well and planning ahead together, you will become an unstoppable force and a great example for your team.

Good skill and good luck to all of you and your teams this season!

<3 Jackie

Habits - Reprinted with Permission

Ever notice that when things are going well all of the "good for you" things, such as reading, writing, eating healthy, taking vitamins, counting calories, exercising, etc. are really easy to do? But then when things are "going bad" you have a really hard time keeping up with your normal good habits? This keeps happening to me... When times are easy, it is easy to take care of myself mentally and physically, but as times get hard then I let go of some of those things that I should do all the time. This is sort of one of those things that makes me spiral downward out of control and into a crazy depression of sorts.

Not that I am a depressed person, don't get me wrong! It's also not that being a depressed person is something I frown upon because I don't... Depression is a very tough battle but I have found my own way to fight through it; cling to the things that help me the most. When I get stressed out, I need to keep better track of what I eat just so I can KNOW without a doubt that I am avoiding things that might make me sick or depressed. I also need to read more, especially read inspirational and self-help items, so I can find the inspiration in them. I need to write more, so I can get all of my thoughts out and sorted and look at them with a resh perspective instead of just seeing them all jumbled up in my head. I am also a HUGE culprit of allowing myself to miss out on sleep to get work done... That's the number one no-no in dealing with stress and battling depression!

A friend of mine recently imparted this story to me concerning the amount we take care of ourselves and I would like to also share it with you. There was a man who needed to cut down five large trees before it got dark outside. He pulled out his saw, cut down the first tree, and it only took him about five minutes. The second tree was a little bit more difficult, it took closer to twenty minutes to cut down because the saw was growing dull. After the third tree took nearly an hour, the man thought about stopping to sharpen his saw, but with darkness approaching quickly he decided he didn't have the time to stop so he continued onto the fourth tree. After an hour, darkness was well upon the land and the man had only sawed about halfway through. His wife came outside looking for him and found him fruitlessly rubbing the dull blade against the tree and stopped him to come in for dinner. He reluctantly agreed, and while he was eating, the wife took five minutes to sharpen his saw blade. When the man returned to the tree the next morning, he finished the fourth tree and the fifth tree in a total of seven minutes.

The moral of the story; don't sacrifice efficiency for amount of work!

J.M. Hope

Getting Good Things to Happen in Color Guard

You never know when something good is going to happen until it happens to you. Spintronix was that something for me. I joined as a first time staff member this year and it has been the most rewarding job I could ever hope for. The kids are amazing! I love coming down every weekend to see each and every one of them! It’s the family I never knew I needed until I had it.

One particular weekend in December, Merideth was down to teach some choreography and out of the blue she asked me how old I was (22 by the way). She asked me for my exact birthday, then proceeded to look at Jackie and say “I think she can march this year...”. After checking the rule book the next day, it turned out it was true and Jackie let me decide what I wanted to do! Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity! Never having marched DCI or winter guard, I wasn't going to pass on my one and only opportunity. We kept it from all the kids for a week and I let Jackie break the news to them the next rehearsal weekend. They were all just as excited for me and I loved all the support I received from them. This will be my rookie and age out year, but I am so happy to have this chance. It was truly a dream come true for me and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season holds for me as a performer!

This past weekend, we all prepared for the imminent dress rehearsal. After arriving there Friday night, we proceeded to go through our warm-ups and reviewed half the show along with choreography before the lovely Sam walked us through our makeup look for the season and then it was lights out. The morning was very eventful from defrosting a mass of frozen biscuits in the microwave to resetting breakers that had flipped in the middle of the night, but biscuits and gravy and endless amounts of coffee had everyone rearing to go when Leah got there for dance class! She choreographed some beautiful dance choreography and by the time lunch rolled around we all had it under our belts. After lunch we proceeded to go through and review the rest of the show. It was crunch time and a little stressful, but we did it! Makeup and hair went by in a blur and by then it was time for our performance. All the kids marched out in their gorgeous uniforms with their equipment, blocked up, stretched out and warmed up. Both run throughs went by smoothly and we couldn’t be more proud of them! It was stressful, but very rewarding because each of them know how far they have come and how much further we still need to go!

We have two weekends before our first competition and I know we are going to improve so much in the meantime! I know we are going to do wonderful things this season!

- Rebekah

Travel Safety with your Team: Hotel Tips

As many teams are getting ready to hit the road with their first overnight trips of the season, here are some great tips on staying in a hotel with your team!

Choose your rooms wisely
Of course you are going to want all of your rooms to be non-smoking and on the same floor. Especially if you are traveling with high school students, most schools will recommend that you also choose rooms that cannot open to the outside. This includes motels that have rooms that open into the parking lot and rooms that are on the ground floor with windows.

Keep room numbers private
When you receive your room keys, the number will be written on the envelope. Do not write the number on the keys and be sure to keep an accurate roster of which students are in which room in your own room.

Hotel address and phone number
Make sure all of your students and parents have the address and phone number of the hotel that you are staying in for possible emergency situations.

Book a meeting room
A lot of hotels have meeting rooms or ballrooms that are free to use for guests staying in the hotel. They can be a great place to have meetings before lights out without waking other hotel guests. They are also often large spaces in which you can stretch and warm-up as a team.

Trust your intuition
If something seems wrong, be suspicious. Keep an eye out for your students and any other people they might encounter during the trip. Always have everyone's cell phone numbers and make sure they have yours, and also make sure you know where they are at all times.

Taking care of these sort of precautions might seem daunting at first, but it will lead to a much more incredible experience for your students in the long run!

<3 Jackie

When Projects Become Projectiles - Reprinted with Permission

I've been playing with the idea of getting my PhD. Since I have a full-time job and have been putting the dough away as savings for a little while now, I could possibly afford it with some financial aid. The only problem right now is that time doesn't seem to be on my side. See, I have a lot of projects that I am involved in at the moment and all of them are contingent upon me having time to do the things that I need to do to get them done. Not the least of these is my book series, which you see how far I've gotten on book 3 lately *crickets.* It doesn't help that I've been picking up extra little side jobs here and there to keep myself from getting bored.

 

Speaking of those extra little side jobs, I recently wrote up a history for my friend's color guard. She drew out a timeline for me and I put it into words that have been reviewed as "eloquent and thorough." You can read it here:http://www.spintronixguard.org/ then in the navigation bar click "About" and in the drop-down menu click "History."

 

Anyhow, I think it would be so cool to have that Dr. in front of my name. Dr. Hope! How cool is that? And, well, it's sort of something I have wanted my whole life. From when I was a young girl and dreamed of being a veterinarian, all through school and college where I had to call my professors "Doctor so-and-so." It's not really a matter to be taken lightly, though. Having a PhD is something that takes a lot of focus, time, and of course money! So maybe it won't happen right now, but at least its something that I've put some research into.

J.M. Hope

5 ways to incorporate technology and color guard

Cell phones, tablets, YouTube, and everything else! Technology can be a serious distraction for color guard students and a serious hindrance to their improvement as performers.
However, it could be exactly the opposite of that.

We have a Facebook group for our winter guard. Being an independent winter guard, I started this several years ago in order to keep up with students from various schools. It was a great way to communicate and make sure that everyone was doing their part outside of practice to get better FOR practice. Throughout the last several years, I have incorporated a lot of things into this Facebook group using the kids' own technology that I hope you can find useful for your own groups!

1. Posting practice videos. This goes both ways! I make assignments each week in rehearsal and then I make a short post about them in the group to remind everyone. The assignments consist of the students filming themselves practicing at home and posting them to the page. The page is private so the students are only sharing their practice videos with everyone else in the group. I also film the students during practice, especially doing run-throughs of the show, and post those to the page so that students can see themselves performing and know exactly what needs to be better/look better every week.

2. Scheduling. It's fantastic to be able to post events with rehearsal schedules on the Facebook group! Students will receive a reminder on their account when the event is upcoming, plus I can add things like a list of what to bring to rehearsal.

3. Blogging. This might seem like it will take a lot of time and effort for a small thing, but having students write blogs about rehearsal - even if it's just once a week - can be a helpful recruitment and educational tool for the future.

4. Keeping in touch/answering questions. I absolutely love when students post questions on the Facebook group! This lets me know they are thinking ahead, practicing at home, and staying generally organized. Keeping your group relevant in their day-to-day lives can be difficult if you have a weekends-only team like we do.

5. Inspiration. From time to time, I like to post videos of other incredible groups for my students to watch. I also post related articles, videos, and other things that will keep everyone inspired and excited about performing - especially when we have a lot of rehearsal weekends in a row at the start of the season!

Now, of course this will only work if you have a crew of Facebook addicts like I generally have at Spintronix. But it's just one example of taking something that could be a huge problematic distraction and turning it into something useful that will help you improve your program!

<3 Jackie

Productive Weekend - Reprinted with Permission

Yep, it sure has been. Unfortunately, that hasn't applied to getting anything further done on writing my next book. I guess I am going to have to accept that this just has to be my side hobby for now and move on with life.

 

I'm taking an accounting class and honestly, I have shied away from any class that has to do with numbers throughout college because I dislike math. However, I was watching an educational YouTube video the other day and the narrator was explaining this concept that wound up having to do with math. If I had known the video was going to be about math, I would've clicked away and watched a cat video or something I could LOL at, or maybe ROFL, or if I'm really lucky ROFLMAO! But no, I was already hooked into the video and then they started explaining math. Bait and switch, those sneaky YouTube video producers!

 

But I digress! Badly, too!!! The person in the video said something about math that really just sort of clicked for me. He said "Humans created math in order to explain the world around them." and I was like well duh, every math teacher I have ever had has told me this. However, this guy showed an example that made me realize that oh, the entire purpose of numbers really is to explain the world around us. It's just not taught that way to us in school so then we don't really understand, know, or care as to why we have to do these algebraic functions or trigonometry or, heaven forbid, geometry! (I had a special place deep in my bowels for what I thought of geometry in high school...)

 

So anyway, back to my accounting class. I have been at this class for several weeks now. It is an online, independent study course so I can take it at whatever pace I need to take, which is perfect for me because with my life I don't really have time for anything outside of my job, my guard, and occasionally my books (well, you see how that is going anyway). I'm working at the accounting class and I realized something: accounting is really incredibly simple, it just has a lot of fancy language and numbers to learn. But once you boil that fancy language down to what the words really mean and realize that numbers are just our way of explaining the world around us, you realize how incredibly simple it is. I am suspicious that the only reason accountants came up with all those words and surrounded them with math is to scare people away. I bet most people who have passed their high school math classes could easily do their own accounting, but heaven forbid Americans ever gain a semblance of independence from our government.

 

That's a whole other topic for a whole other day. Good night.

J.M. Hope