Featured Story
Color Guard Educators
Mar 17, 2009
For any color guard instructor who has had questions, or needed some helpful tricks of the trade, ColorGuardEducators.com provides practical information, inspirational articles and educational materials to assist color guard educators in developing both their own skills and their programs in an effort to support the growth of marching arts activities. With a focus on serving beginner/intermediate level instructors and directors, Color Guard Educators (CGE) reports current trends in the activity and celebrates the positive difference that these educators are making in their performers’ lives every day. In addition, ColorGuardEducators.com offers an active online community where readers may network with other educators, ask questions and share experiences.
In January of 2007, Catina Anderson started CGE after seeing many other instructors struggle with the same lessons she had learned. Anderson says, “I knew that if I could write down what I had learned and encourage other experienced instructors to do the same, we could encourage growth in the activity, and reduce a great deal of the stress that comes in the first few years of coaching. This would allow instructors to focus their time improving design and teaching skills.”
There is a wide variety of information offered on the site. There are many articles covering basic "how-to" information such as how to tape a rifle, how to sew a practice silk, where to place cheater tapes, how to create a master calendar, and how to build a floor from billboards. There are also articles for students that instructors can print and share such as How to set up a personal drill book, rehearsal tips for student leaders and competition tips for new performers. There is a document section where instructors can share worksheets, handouts and other documents that have worked for them (including certificate templates, music maps for show design, audition evaluation forms and more).
In addition to the articles and documents there is an extensive "links" section, a calendar of educational events (circuits can submit their educational events for listing), a terms glossary, a news section and an active forum where coaches can ask advice and offer tips. CGE is always looking for "quick tips" which is featured at the top of each page. These are approximately 100 word tips on ANY topic related to instruction, design or management.
Instructors, adjudicators, and other color guard educators can also submit articles for consideration or documents for the documents section. If you have an idea for a group or instructor you'd like to see featured in a Q&A article or a question you'd like answered you can send that in as well. It only takes a few minutes to write down what you know - and it could be just the information another coach is looking for to make their students' experience even better. Send all submissions to editor@colorguardeducator.com.
Starting out her pageantry experience as a baton twirler in Southern Maryland, Anderson was quickly introduced to a “military team” using flags, rifles, and sabres. Local duet competitions, and the marching band sealed her fate in the marching arts as she has continued to spin, march, and teach since then. She also currently serves as the education specialist for the Atlantic Indoor Association.
Anderson says, “This website truly is a labor of love for me and I've been blessed to have welcomed a small team of contributors over the past few months who share my passion for promoting positive coaching techniques and supporting the growth of beginning programs. They have also brought with them a knowledge of the activity across various regions of the country and a variety of experiences as instructors, designers and adjudicators. I hope to continue expanding this group of advisors who share my passion for this activity and the mission of the website.”
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