Success begets success, and more student interest. Completion of this campaign will enable our band program to accommodate increasing enrollment and student interest, at the level of unmatched excellence we expect in Waverly. For the past 10 years, the Band Boosters have been in survival mode to keep the band program functioning by subsidizing program budgets. Due to program growth and dilapidated instrument inventory, much of their funds have been spent on repair and reconditioning instruments decades over their recommended life span. Academic programs are not asked to study with curriculum from the 1980s, and athletic programs are not asked to compete with equipment from the 1980s. Instrumental equipment from the 1980s is inadequate. Many of the “perks” a booster organization would provide are not realized because so much of the funds raised are spent surviving.
This campaign will “catch the band up” and anticipate some instrument needs in growth over the next decade. The Band Boosters will be able to function as a true booster organization, funding items like student honor band admittance, uniform cleaning, and band camp scholarships. The Band Boosters will still need to pay annual expenses for accompanists, drum line instructors, and color guard instructors because the school district does not pay for any of them. Students will still need fundraising opportunities to boost their personal Golden accounts for uniform needs, instrument rental fees, camps and trips.