Creekland Middle School Band Blog

YES!!! We are still having the Rock-A-Thon!!!  We have received many concerned e-mails about the Rock-A-Thon, talent show, and the basketball tournament.   Truthfully, we wish we didn’t have so many missing days from school, but when plans change, we change.  We need everyone to turn in their permission form on Tuesday.  If you are missing your permission form, please print a new one from the handouts section of charms.  We need all forms whether you are attending or not.  We need to know exactly who is coming.  We also need to know what the teams are for the 3 on 3 tournament.  Lastly, we are going to listen to our talent show participants during class on Tuesday.  We need to know who is going to participate in the talent show and who is participating with someone in orchestra or chorus.  If you are participating in the talent show with someone that is not in your class, let’s arrange a time following school on Tuesday.

We appreciate all of the great efforts that everyone is doing to make this Rock-A-Thon great.  We are still encouraging everyone participating to each raise 100 dollars.  I know that the required amount is 25, but we really want the lockers for our students.  These expensive lockers are acoustically designed for band rooms.  This will allow a safe, permanent storage compartment for the students’ instruments.  We could easily raise enough money if everyone participates.  The Rock-A-Thon, hopefully, will raise enough money to replace our fall fundraiser.  We only want to have one fundraiser per year.  If everyone works hard, this can be completed.
Don’t forget…
Wednesday – Chair Drop off immediately following school.  Don’t forget to bring your prizes.
If you have large prizes donated from businesses, please bring them at this time also.  You will need to bring them to the small band room.  If you want, you can come through the bus lanes starting at 4:30.  Our buses should be clear by then.  If you still know of big items that can be donated, please contact our officers.  If you need their contact information, please contact myself or Ms. Schaps.

FYI:  For those of you that have Bellsouth.net , for some reason I am getting many e-mails to bounce back.  Please contact them and let them know that you are not able to receive e-mails from your child’s teachers.   If you know of someone with a Bellsouth.net that is a member of the band, please forward this message.  I want to make sure everyone in the band program receives this message.

Reminder:
Pep Band Rehearsal Wednesday morning at 8:00 am and Pep Band Game on Thursday immediately following school.

Just discovered this product that is designed to shield the entire row of braces from lips. Check out this link:

https://www.morganbumper.com/index.html

Today is the official kick-off of our fall band fundraiser!  Students received information packets in their classes today.  This year we are selling candy, flower bulbs, candles, and chocolates.  Our fundraising goals now are purchasing new instruments, repairing old instruments, hiring guest clinicians and performers, and eventually purchasing Wenger instrument lockers for each student!

We make 40% profit from each item sold, and we will credit every student’s individual band account 25% of proceeds of individual sales.   For instance, if a student sells one $10 item we receive $4 in profit, and $1 will be credited to the student’s band account.  Band accounts can be used to pay for miscellaneous band expenses (books, binders, t-shirts, “Band Packets,” etc.) or can be saved up for big purchases (i.e. step-up instruments).

The text of the letter we sent home says the following:

We are delighted to have the opportunity to conduct a Band and Orchestra fundraiser to provide funds for curriculum materials, enrichment materials, and equipment for our programs.  Since all band and orchestra students will benefit from the proceeds of this sale, every student in one of these programs is encouraged to participate in this fundraiser in some way.

Our Fall Fundraiser will begin on Wednesday, October 13 and will run until Friday, October 22.  Students can start turning in money and orders immediately.  We will need parent help on Friday, October 22 and Monday, October 25 to assist on counting the money to make sure it matches the orders received.   Items ordered will be sent home with the students on early release days in November (Wednesday and Thursday November 10 and 11), and we will also need parent help as we distribute the items.  We appreciate any volunteer help you can give us!  Please see the volunteer slip on the letter or sign up on Charms.

We encourage you and your child to sell these products to family, friends, coworkers, and other acquaintances.  Students should not to go door-to-door to solicit sales from people they do not know. If you choose, it is also permissible to make a donation to the band program in lieu of participating in the fundraiser. The absolute final turn in day is Friday, October 22!!

***PLEASE MAKE ALL FUNDRAISER CHECKS PAYABLE TO CREEKLAND BAND BOOSTERS***

Thank you in advance for your support of this FUNdraiser!  We look forward to the financial  opportunities this fundraiser will provide!

(***please note – there was a typo on the form sent home today regarding pick-up dates for fundraising items.  Pick-up days are the early release days in November – the 10th and 11th, NOT the 11th and 12th as listed on the form!***)

Honor band students received a reminder handout today about the upcoming concert this Thursday 9/30 at 6:30.

Students need to report to their assigned area at 6:00:

• 7th Grade in the cafeteria (leave cases in large band room)
• 8th Grade in small band room

Students are required to attend both halves of the concert, and parents are encouraged to stay as well.  We do not anticipate it being a long event.

The required uniform is:

• Black dress pants, black dress shoes, and black socks
• White tuxedo shirt
• Cummerbund and Bowtie

7th Grade uniform issues (and a back-up plan):

Although we placed the order for 7th grade uniforms 3 weeks ago, the theme of this year seems to be orders not getting filled on time.  I spoke to the company this morning and they said our order will hopefully be here by Thursday, but just in case we are creating a back-up uniform.  7th Grade please show up on Thursday in black bottoms as listed above, and a plain white t-shirt on top.  (No designs please!) This way, if the uniforms arrive we can put them on, and if not we will still look uniform.

*Keep your fingers crossed!*  See you Thursday for a great evening of music making!

We are happy to announce the officer board for the 2010-2011 Creekland Band Booster program:

President: Jeff Reinhard
Vice President: Molly Gautreaux*
Secretary: Shelly Pine
Treasurer: Becky Drescher

The booster board and the band directors met on Wednesday to draft an official set of by-laws for the organization as part of our application process for a 501 c 3.  Be on the lookout for an upcoming publication and vote on those by-laws and announcements about future meetings.

Thanks again to all the parents who will be participating in our booster organization!  We are looking forward to a great year!

*Although Rachel Pinard was originally on the ballot (and in the minutes), she respectfully declined her nomination and Molly, who was a nominee for secretary,  agreed to step in as vice president.

Progress Reports are going home today and tomorrow in all classes. Many students turned in late work today and there was no time to update their grades, so please check the GCPS Portal for your student’s most current grade.

Because band is mostly a participation class, we consider any student whose grade is below an A to be performing under par. Any student who practices his or her instrument regularly (and turns in the practice record), brings his or her materials to class every day, and shows up to required events should receive an A in band.

Students are responsible for turning in their own assignments at all times.

We are currently having difficulties with SmartMusic and posting pictures on this blog…we’ll keep you posted on whether we can get it working. SmartMusic is not letting us connect to the internet to make new assignments for students to access, making it difficult to set up pass-offs. We’re working on it, and hope to have the kinks worked out soon!

Please read the following article about the importance of cleaning your instruments!! The article discusses professional musicians whose instruments were growing harmful bacteria because they were not diligent about cleaning them!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129725678

Our band binders should have been here 3 weeks ago, but they are on back order from Staples. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they will arrive ANY DAY now!

We are anxious for their arrival because in 7th and 8th grade we can’t hand out any new music until the students have binders to put them in! Band books are being handed out at various times this week in 7th and 8th grade, and for 6th grade we will wait on the band binders.

Thanks for your patience! We are almost losing ours waiting for these supplies!