An Open Letter To The Pageantry Arts: We Can Do More

To my friends, peers, and colleagues in the pageantry world:

In my life, I have been allowed to discover, engage, and participate in the activity of pageantry.  I've done it on almost all levels from performer to teacher to director to board member to judge. I can't say I've seen it all, but after 25 years of doing this, I've seen a lot. I've seen enough to form an opinion and I've seen enough to be able to step back with perspective and say that I want to see this activity flourish long after I'm gone.  I also have been given a gift beyond finding pageantry by accident, as many others did.  Somewhere along the line, the universe handed me a fate that I could have never predicted. I found myself working in the service of others. I didn't set out to work in non profit, but that is where the universe felt I would be best used. I went from a very underpaid recreation therapist, to a program manager, to a government think tank. I say this, not to promote my resume, but to say that in my professional field I think I have seen it all.  I can honestly say that. I've seen kids who have gone from criminal to successful businessman. I've seen kids go from great families to jail. I have a client serving life in prison right now. I've dealt with suicide, bullying, molestation, rape, severe drug abuse, and clients who have been physically abused by their parents to the point of death. I have also seen the inner workings of non profit for the good and for the bad. I've seen the collapse of non profits and the non-profits that are worth millions.  I've audited those programs and explored what went right and what went wrong. I have seen the abuse of power through ego, in the name of, "being in it for the kids." In my line of work I've been a part of audit teams that was able to predict the collapse of organizations by the lack of proper controls of oversight. Mostly though, I've seen wonderful things done for our most vulnerable population...our children.

I say all of this because I would like for the pageantry arts to open up a discussion and talk about what it is we see and hear, because we too are a non-profit in the service of children and can learn a lot from those organizations already working.  I would like to talk about our future, because to be honest, I'm worried about it. I also believe that we can be so much more. We can be larger than a weekend in Dayton or a weekend in Indianapolis. To have this conversation though, we have to be honest. We have to look at our deficits and our assets. We have to include ALL stakeholders in the conversation and we must check our ego's at the door. The stakeholders for pageantry are not just instructors and board members, but parents, performers, community members, and school administration.  It's called convening a congress. Hold the congress and the stakeholders will come...I guarantee it!

I am worried for our art because I see trends that are leading us down a path we might have difficulty returning from . A few years ago the economy crashed, spiraling state budgets out of control. People lost their jobs and their homes and gas prices skyrocketed. Those people effected were all of us. Working at a government think tank I'm privileged and also tortured by daily statistics shown to us about how more and more children are falling under the poverty line and their parents into the category of "the working poor." Just this week the Annie E. Casey Foundation released its annual Kids Count report. There were some positive improvements, but some of the statistics were frightening and shows that we are going in the wrong direction. For example, 40% of all children are living in a household with a high housing cost burden. 32% of children are living with parents who lack secure employment. 23% of all children are living in poverty. 68% of all 4th grade children are not proficient in reading. 66% of 8th graders are not proficient in math. So why does this matter? Why do these numbers matter to the color guard, drum corps, and marching band community? Well, it's simple, The more these numbers stay at alarming rates, the more funding the funding will follow the trends. An example of this? Just this summer, a multitude of Pinellas County government entities that have a stake in child welfare, put millions of dollars into summer reading and math programs for children in low income areas. Where did the money come from? It came from funding allocated for summer camps and extra curricular activities. This is happening all over the country. Right or wrong...this is what is happening. 

As an independent guard director, I see kids paying their dues with student loans. I see kids having to make a choice between drum corps and winterguard, because the costs of both are so incredibly expensive. I'm concerned that we are becoming an activity where only the upper middle class and wealthy can participate, when the activity started at the community level for all kids. Drum Corps was started for the community and some corps were set up for kids with troubled backgrounds to have a safe environment to participate in and to get their lives back on track.  As a parent, if my child came to me and wanted to march drum corps today, I couldn't afford it. I don't make enough money and I'm not anywhere close to being near the poverty line and I'm not considered the working poor. I would have to make a choice. College fund or drum corps? Drum Corps International estimated that each performer averages $3,500 per season. We have got to get the cost down across the board.

I'm concerned for our young instructors. The times are different. There are laws that they might not know of and the risk they take on as instructors of youth, could land them in the middle of a lawsuit or even worse; prison.  Parents no longer have the money to allow their kids to participate in multiple activities in their lifetime. With the cost of childcare, little league youth sports, paying for the schools supplies, and college, they have to make choices. They want a return on their investment and they want their children to come home safe. All instructors and organizations need guidance in how to keep the kids coming back and to make a choice that pageantry is a way of life, much like gymnastics or baseball is for others. We need to professionalize our field. 

I'm concerned that we don't advocate for the activity at a national level. Advocacy at the national level would allow for more effective fundraising at the local level. It's easy to advocate for baseball or football little league teams, because baseball and football are multi-million dollar industries known to everyone in the world. So we have to try harder.  I'm concerned that we don't keep data.  Real data. Having real data allows for us know where we are really at and allows for us to make a case for support. It allows us to know where we are headed and where we need to go.  We need to collect data on the diversity of the activity, the financials of the organizations, how the kids pay for their dues, why they do pageantry, and what keeps them coming back. We need to prove our effectiveness by not just numbers of kids performing, but the number of lives we have changed such as how many went on to college or how many made honor roll. We need to keep data on the communities we serve and the ones we don't. We need to survey all stakeholders and once we collect this data we need to teach our directors how to use it.  We need transparency. We need boards made up of accountants, lawyers, youth advocates, teachers, youth specialists, community organizers, and even doctors. We need diversity on our boards and we need diversity in our membership. We need policies that govern our organizations based on oversight and safety. Those policies must ensure that we will do our best to keep the kids safe and the organizations financially viable both nationally and locally. We need to map our assets. Find out who we have and ask them to give back either financially or through in-kind support. This activity has raised some wonderful and smart people. Not all of them can design the show of a lifetime and some of them have never touched a musical instrument or flag, but it doesn't make them any less passionate and able to give back. As an activity we have been around long enough that we have alumni in all aspects of life; stationed all over the world. We have doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, researchers, politicians, psychiatrists, marketing professionals, journalists, business owners, bankers, technology experts, and professional grant writers. We even have alumni who are now famous. Wouldn't it be an amazing experience to get these people together and ask them the following questions, "What do you know and what can you teach us?"

We need to find a way to have a discussion that does not involve the competitive environment, but how we can make pageantry accessible for all children who want it. We need to think big. We can be bigger than life. We are no longer the small little flags in the back of the band. We are no longer the parade band that exists only for the July 4th parade.  We are a sport and we are an art and we can be more than we are. We are not just "guns in a gym!" Too many lives have been touched for that phrase to still exist.

My hope for our future is that we become an activity that we no longer have to explain, but an activity that the community, corporations, and funders automatically recognize and that we aren't seen as the accessory to the football team, but the real sport we all know we are. I hope that one day we are so recognizable that corporate sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonalds, and Gatorade clamor to be the official sponsor of our regional and national events. I want parents to have access to private schools for colorguard, much like dance, cheerleading, and gymnastics.  I want yearly conferences where thousands of people come to not just learn about creating a great show, but come to learn how to make the experience better for our youth. I want to see partnerships with already successful associations such as The Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the Women's Sports Foundation, or the United Way.  I would like to see us set up professional organizations for, "The Women of Pageantry" or create a program called, "The Mentorship Academy." I would like to see us talk about issues that effect our young people such as the obesity epidemic, the importance of education,  women's issues, or even issues related to LGBT Youth.  I want pageantry to be larger than life and then I want more.  I want judges so well trained that there is never a question about the accuracy of their score. I want organizations that are so well run, that they only fold by choice and not by incompetence sucking money and time away from well meaning performers and staff.  I want more. I want more. I want more. I want to see more collaboration, more leadership, and a stronger vision. 

My fear is that we are losing our activity to a crumbling economy, an overly litigious society, and a world not as inclusive as it should be.  I also know that we aren't having these conversations as openly as we should. When the economy crashed I didn't hear one conversation from our national organizations about the kids and programs we could lose because of it. Think of this. We tend to believe as a group of people that music education and all forms of the pageantry arts increases critical thinking, the ability to work with others, creativity, math, and physical fitness. If this is true, then why aren't we doing more for all children? Why aren't we discussing that a child from poverty might not have the transportation to get to and from practices and that sponsorship's and fundraising in their community is more difficult than a kid from a middle class community? Why aren't we advocating for that child and trying to find solutions for their future in the pageantry arts?  I hear many people discuss the issues, but behind the scenes over cocktails. Some people don't care at all and don't grasp the magnitude of what we could be and what we really are. Some people only care about their unit and others only care about winning. Some people are very elitist. Most of us though, see the possibilities and we are ready to talk about it. It's time to take our place on the international stage and join the benefits and notoriety that other sports see. We can't think small and we can't think of today. We have to think about our future and for those kids who will come after us. I do color guard so my child can one day experience the passion I've been able to experience. I also write this today so children who by no fault of their own, who don't have the financial means, can participate in this wondrous activity so they may feel the joy thousands of us have felt.

We can no longer think small, think for ourselves, or think only for today. This is my plea to the pageantry arts.

I'll tell you this. I spend my professional day discussing the plight of children in our society...all children. I am inundated with data and facts. I visit communities that are crumbling. I do research on those communities and always...ALWAYS...I have in the back of my mind how the pageantry arts could be a catalyst for change for the children growing up in a world beyond their means. It's disheartening and we can make a difference if we just try. 

Thank you my friends for letting me take part in your life through pageantry and thank you to the universe for knowing more than me and guiding me to it. May all children be so lucky.

Sincerely,

Shelba