newsletter
September 17, 2023

Weekly Newsletter - September 17, 2023

 

I hope everyone had a great homecoming weekend!  

I wanted to thank the parents that came to the monthly parent booster meeting this past Wednesday - we had about 25 parents show up.  I want to encourage those that could not make it to give it a try next time.  Its a great opportunity to hear directly from the booster board and directors, ask any questions you have, and build community with other band parents.

Also, a special thanks to Gary Shaw for taking group pictures of the band this weekend.  He always does a great job and we are thankful for his help.

Thanks to everyone for getting your spring trip commitments in.  We still have a few outstanding issues to resolve, but we got 99 students on the list.  If you registered, you should see the spring trip balance fee on your account, so you may begin paying that down.  If you do not see that fee, please let me know ASAP.

So let's get into this - and please give special attention to the Charms section below - we are deep into marching season now, and need to get any Charms-related issues resolved.

 

What's in this newsletter?

Here's what I have for you all this week:

 

This week in band...

Monday 9/18

Tuesday 9/19

Wednesday 9/20

Thursday 9/21

Saturday 9/23

 

Now on to the details...

Charms

We have been having an inordinate number of issues regarding Charms.  If you have not yet, please login to Charms and ensure that you are able.  You need your Charms ID to associate your student to your band store account, and you also need to be able to setup communication preferences.  If you are new, you should have received an email from secretary@eldorado.band in July providing instructions on how to get in.  If you did not receive it, or can't find it, or have not logged in for a while and can't get in - any issues with Charms, please let Anne Claspell, our booster secretary, know by sending her an email at secretary@eldorado.band and we will get you sorted out.


Additionally, our weekly newsletters have plenty of information for the students as well, especially from Mr. Sayre.  I have been having requests to setup students' communication details.  You as parents need to handle this in Charms.  Many of the students have a parent email in their profile, so please ensure that your students' profile has their non-APS email address setup for their accounts, as well as a mobile number, if needed, so they can receive text message communications.  While you are in there, please ensure your parent profiles also are setup with correct email addresses and mobile numbers as there are many without one or the other.  If your student does have their email address in their Charms profile, please also check their spam folder/filter to ensure the messages are not going there.


As I noted in the parent meeting in July, communication is vitally important to the success of this program.  We communicate everything you need to know via our newsletters, midweek emails, and text messages.  We need to have up-to-date email/phone for everyone so we can keep everyone on the same page.  We also need to you to commit a few minutes each week to read through the information.  Not everything will apply to everyone every time, but with the volume of information, you wont know if you don't read through it.  I don't mind at all answering your questions when they come up, but almost every email I've received this year would have been easily answered by reading the newsletters and/or a quick search on our website, and would not have had to wait on me to respond to your inquiry.


Band Fees

Band fees are available in the band store.  Please make sure you stay on top of these fees - paying part of the performance and, if applicable, the spring trip balance fee each month makes the costs much more manageable.  Just remember, that much of the costs of marching season are front-loaded by the boosters and rely on these fees to be paid to continue providing value to this program.

If you have not yet done so, please make sure you have a band store account, and have associated your student to that account per the instructions available on the Fee Management page.  Remember - when doing this that your student's Charms ID is to be entered for BOTH the Student ID and the PIN.  Subsequently, if you dont have your Charms ID, you can get it by logging in to Charms (see the section above...)

If you have any issues getting setup, please let me know.  

Also remember, that larger fees can be paid in multiple, partial payments.  Simply enter the amount you want to pay and add that to your store cart.

 

Volunteer Opportunities

Here is a list of all active volunteer opportunities.  These are also always available on the Volunteering page.

 

Have a great week!

Go Eagles!

JD

 

AND a word from Mr. Sayre...

Greetings Band Community!

Great work at the homecoming game and great work this week.  We are well on our way to having a great marching show.  We ran out of time for our performance slot for pregame and even though we had to end after the 2nd movement you handled the change very well.  This week we will be able to focus on putting all the pieces together and getting the bigger picture of the show together by doing larger sections and going back to the 1st and 2nd and adding in some of the choreography.  Additionally we will start to wean ourselves off of the metronome so we can stay together better.

Here are some reminders for this week:

Cleanliness and organization of the music building: It is the responsibility of every member of the band to keep the band room, storage room, mirror room, and lockers clean and organized.  We have had some messes that are only getting cleaned because the directors are doing it.  If you see trash or food that was left out you need to do something about it.  If you have friends that are not keeping their area clean you need to say something to them.  We have a great facility when it is clean and some members of the band are making it more difficult by leaving a mess in every area they occupy.  

Uniforms: you should not have in your possession the performance uniform shirt.  The shirt needed to go to the section leader at the game so it can be cared for correctly.  

Allstate Etude 2nd recording: The second excerpt is due this weekend.  Look in your google classroom for specific instructions.  All members except the color guard need to do this assignment.  If you want to hear how it goes to help you learn it I have made practice tracks for you to practice along with.  

Allstate Auditions Registration: The deadline for registering for Jazz and Concert band Allstate Auditions is coming in a few weeks. We will need to register by October 9th but I will need information much sooner.  

Game on Saturday: The game starts at 11am so call time will be at 9am. Full uniform.   

Here is the lesson plan for the week


Most Improved

Spencer Hubbard: Junior Saxophone Player

Most Spirited

Gabriel Trujillo: Sophomore Percussionist

Best Dog "Woof"

Quentin Maes: Junior Trombone Player

Most Improved Group

The Senior Class!

Outstanding Section

Trumpets!

Exemplary Members

Devin Torres, Wyatt Ross, and Mia Hollister


Mr. Sayre