Conducting Chaos: The Wild Adventures of Middle School Summer Band Camp!

Interested in starting your own middle school summer band camp? I know that the last thing on everyone’s mind is adding more to your plate, but this one is worth it. Several years ago, my colleague and I decided to revive our district’s summer band camp under a new name, new structure, and revamped model. We started with around 50 attendees back in 2021 and finished our most recent camp with 115 members. The best advice I can lend you is to bite the bullet and just give it a try. If this is something you are interested in but not sure where to start, I suggest writing a proposal to your administration and/or boosters with dates, times, overview, and a suggested budget. You will figure it out as you go and learn what works best for your school and your band program. Take notes during your first camp on what worked, what didn’t, and what you would like to change next year. We tweak ours every year and it continues to improve each time we do it. After reading more about our district’s summer band camp, click HERE to view our sample camp applications, prize and snack lists, high schooler counselor handbook, theme day examples, and more!

The “Westlake Summer Band Experience” (WSBE) runs for one week in late June with a concert during the evening on the final day. We run three bands, in addition to an optional lunch/recess hour in the middle of the day. This camp is facilitated through the district administration via our summer programming “LINK” office. They handle the registration, room reservations, purchase orders, and director stipends. This could also be done through a boosters’ organization or through building administration, depending on what works for your district. Our camp is run at the middle school, utilizing all the music rooms, cafeteria, gym, and outdoor areas. Below is a more detailed outline of our daily band camp schedule, which is dependent on having two directors to run this model. Each band takes a snack break (provided) and is also staffed with counselors from the high school band who assist by sitting in rehearsal, leading sectionals, and aiding with general management throughout the week.

10:00-12:00 | “Summer Swing” Jazz Ensemble This is an easy-to-intermediate jazz ensemble for students with at least two years of experience, taught by Director B in the choir room. This group overlaps with the Prelude Band rehearsal and is also supplemented with a few high school counselors. Interest in this group has grown significantly over the years, which is why we only take standard instrumentation for the winds (saxophones, trumpets, trombones) and limit the rhythm section enrollment. For many students, this is their first experience in a jazz ensemble. We focus on learning how to swing, how to play a blues scale, and performing basic echo patterns to aid in early improvisation. We try to program a mix of swing, Latin, and rock charts to give them exposure to various styles. Most of the participants in the Summer Swing Jazz Ensemble also play in the afternoon Intermezzo Band.

We have daily theme days for camp that the students, counselors, and staff are highly encouraged to participate in. Our kids get very involved and creative with the planning and execution of these themes! We ask all participants to line up at the end of rehearsal each day for a quick “runway show” and then our counselors vote on the best contestants. Those students receive medals and trophies, and all participants get to visit the prize cart each day for dressing up. Our LINK office gives us a budget of a few hundred dollars to spend on prizes each year - we find Amazon to be the easiest way to order lots of inexpensive, fun prizes for the kids to win throughout the week. Some of the past favorites include mini sports balls, frisbees, sunglasses, bracelets, Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars, mini-Lego sets, pop sockets, pens/pencils, candy, and fidgets to name a few. Dollar Tree is also a great place to bulk prizes on a budget. I recommend getting some plastic medals and trophies (all of which are customizable with a label maker) for your theme day winners… the kids love it!