Band overnighter

One of the things the students had been disappointed about when the band no longer went away to camp was the loss of their senior reflection/new member welcome ceremony.  Last year they did it after the last full day of camp, but the seniors weren't happy about the time constraints, and the parents weren't happy with having to pick their child up at 11 on a weeknight.  Andrew and I made the proposition of us being in charge of an overnight, and since Andrew is a school employee, the directors didn't have to be involved...and they didn't want to be.  We took lots of ideas from other overnighter done at the school, and I thought we had a pretty good plan.

We were super clear about our expectations both to the students and the parents.  We searched bags, and even searched the room the bags had been in.  We made it clear that there would be supervision throughout the night.  We made it clear students were to be picked up at 7AM (send them home just as things might begin to unravel)...we had plans and more plans.  We had eight chaperones to keep an eye on things.  The weather became a problem but we had backup plans.  We were prepared.

I, of course, missed the beginning of the evening by being at the swim meet.  When I made it back to the school, the students were already 2-1/2 hours into the "ceremony", and our patience was beginning to wain a bit.  The adults were beginning to comment that this isn't what we had expected.  We were outdoors at this point, and it was beginning to get chilly.  Students were beginning to get cold and needed to use the restroom.  About 1:30 Andrew was beginning to get irritated, and that was when a student decided to sneak away.  He left the group and went down the side of the building in the shadows.  Two chaperones followed, and by the time they turned the corner he was no where to be seen.  Chaperones took off with flashlights, but we still had 80 other students we had to keep an eye on.  We ended up calling the police and his parents, and after 2-1/2 hours the young man was found.  It turns out one of the senior "reflections" had called him out pretty strongly (without naming him, but everyone knew!) on their previous relationship. 

Needless to say, it made the experience very stressful!  As much as I had enjoyed the kids all week, that was not what I had planned on!  All the chaperones agreed that the format of things needed to change next year.  No one really slept, and it wasn't the overall positive experience we had hoped it would be.  Fortunately, the young man's parents thought we all handled the situation very well and weren't upset with the adults.  Very stressful though!