Submitted by Tami Mangusso, Aurora, Colorado

Idea posted June 18, 2004

Here are a few things I do to get students to come to concerts:
1. Advertise like crazy. My school has a monthly newsletter. I put the date of the performances in as soon as I know them, which is usually three months in advance. I send letters home three weeks before the show and then again one week before the show.
2. Periodically in class, I mention that we will be performing on such and such a date. I also stress how important it is to have everyone there and why we give performances. Also I try to make rehearsals fun and do my best to get the students excited about performing.
3. I have an extra assignment for students who do not attend. I tell the students that everyone is expected to put forth the time an effort, and this includes attending the program. They can choose to come to the program or come in during their recess time to do an assignment. Even if I have a class during their recess time, I still have them come in to work. If students are not going to attend the show and they know about it, they must have their parents/guardians either call me or write a note by the day of the program. If an unexpected circumstance took place the night of the concert, they must contact me the next day.
4. We give two daytime performances and one evening performance. In this way, all students get a chance to perform in front of an audience. (There will always be some who cannot make evening performances.) Daytime performances are also nice in that the students get to see how much fun putting on a show is, and then they won't want to miss the evening performance. They will beg and nag their parents to let them come.
Using these methods, I usually get approximately 90% of my students to show up (110 total).