newsletter
July 28, 2024

Weekly Newsletter - July 28, 2024

Sent 7/28/2024, 9:00 PM.

I want to congratulate our students on a great performance on Saturday.  They have clearly been working very hard during band camp.  Enjoy your time off before school - you have certainly earned it!

I have a number of things for you all during this week off - some messages from our uniforms chair, our yearbook chair, and some updates from our parent meeting on Saturday.  Hope you all enjoy the last few days of summer before school starts!

What's in this newsletter?

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

• Uniform Update - a quick note from our uniform chair

• Yearbook Update - a quick note from our yearbook chair

• Parent Handbook Acknowledgement - please take this week off to read through the handbook and sign your acknowledgement in Cut Time

• Fundraising Update - we have done great!  Keep those donations and sponsorships coming in until 8/15 - after which I will be setting our performance fees for the year

• Activity Fee - Please pay your $80 activity fee ASAP in our band store

• Parent Meeting Updates - a quick summary of our parent meeting this past Saturday, and answers to some questions to which I did not immediately have answers

• Volunteer Opportunities - nothing this week

• And a word from Mr. Sayre - always make time to read through this section

This week in band...

Nothing this week.  Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Now on to the details...

Uniform Update

A note from Lori Van Note, our uniform chair:

I'd like to give a huge 'Thank You' to everyone who helped with uniform distribution this past week. We have such great volunteers! I'd also like to give an extra big 'Thank You' to Kathleen Tighe-Smith who helped all week and continues to get me up-to-speed as Uniform Chair. We were able to get nearly all of the students fitted! For the few students who missed uniform distribution, we'll setup a time within the first two weeks of school to get you fitted. Going forward, please contact me for any questions or concerns with uniforms, shoes, socks, gloves, etc.

If you don't have your uniform yet, because it's being altered, those will be available to pick up in the band room by the 2nd week of school. 

Yearbook Update

It's already time to begin collecting pictures for the band yearbook. Students, please email your band camp or section party pictures to Mrs. Whiston.  Band families, please share any band or color guard photos that you may have from the parent performance on Saturday. All pictures can be emailed to: yearbooks@eldorado.band 

Parent Handbook Acknowledgement

The booster board wants to make sure that as parents and guardians, we are all on the same page regarding expectations of both students and adults as part of the EHS band program.  The students have already gone over policies with Mr. Sayre.  We as the band boosters (which includes all parents and guardians) will need to make sure we are familiar with communication methods, what is on the website, and most importantly, our band handbook.

You should have already received a message via Cut Time that there is a document you need to sign.  The document contains some highlights and links to various pages on our website and handbook and guides you through the content.  Please take some time to read through everything that document asks of you before you sign your acknowledgement.  Note that there are a couple of elements in the handbook that are yet to be determined, like the fee schedule for the year (waiting on the fundraising campaign to complete), but at least you will know where to find it when it is finalized.

Please read and sign that document in Cut Time as soon as possible.  We need at least one parent or guardian of each student to sign this acknowledgement.

Fundraising Update

Thanks again to all who have donated to our fundraising campaigns.  Keep those donations and sponsorships coming in.  I would really like to hit $30,000 for the Golden Booster and $15,000 in Corporate Sponsorships by 8/15 - WE ARE SO CLOSE!.  Remember, the more we raise during this campaign, the lower your band fees will be for the year (and remember - we have a fall trip this year!).  I will be settings the fee schedule based on the total amount raised as of 8/15.  As of this newsletter, here are the fundraising numbers:

• Golden Boosters: $28,623.69 out of $30,000

• Corporate Sponsorships: $12,400.00 out of $15,000

Here are the fundraising links in case you need them:

• Fundraising page: https://www.eldorado.band/fundraising

• Golden Booster Campaign: https://golden-booster-campaign.cheddarup.com/

• Corporate Sponsorship Campaign: https://golden-eagle-sponsorships.cheddarup.com/

Activity Fee

The band Activity Fee funds the Activity Fund with APS for our band director.  This fund is REQUIRED and funds various class-related expenses, including buses, music, and other class-related fees.  The activity fee is like a "lab fee", but for band.  The fee this year is $80 and can be paid online using the link below.  Please pay this fee ASAP.

• https://eldorado-band-course-fee.cheddarup.com

Parent Meeting Updates

Thanks to all the parents that were able to attend our parent meeting on Saturday.  We covered a ton of information and answered a number of your questions.  I wanted to cover a few of the highlights for those that were unable to attend.

• We covered a ton of information, but all of it is available online in the band handbook.  Make sure you read through it.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

• Spring Trip - we are going to Washington D.C.!  The spring trip commitment will be available in the band store soon.  The deposit for the trip will be $250, and is non-refundable.  The total cost for the trip will be $1,200 (the $250 deposit goes toward the total cost).  You will not want to miss this trip - it's gonna be amazing!  If you have questions, please email our trip coordinator JP at springtrip@eldorado.band.  The commitment will be due by 9/15/2024 (available soon on the band store)
  A quick reminder that ALL fees must be paid by 3/6/2025

• Required fees will be paid in Cut Time (nothing has been assigned yet - waiting for fundraising campaign to end to set fee schedule).  Optional fees will be paid in the band store.  There is a link on the home page of the website to the band store.

• Unsupervised clearance - If you plan to volunteer at all this year, please initiate your unsupervised clearance with APS as soon as possible by submitting our clearance request form.  Please do this ASAP, as the process does take a little bit of time, but once you get through it, you are set for 2 years.  If you need to be reimbursed for clearance costs, please email your receipt to our treasurer at treasurer@eldorado.band.

There were 2 questions I promised to get answers to:

• Does the concert uniform need to be short sleeve or long sleeve black shirt?

  • The concert uniform will consist of:

    • Long black socks and black shoes

    • Long or short sleeve black shirt (no tank tops or spaghetti straps) that cover the midriff

    • Black Pants

    • Clothing should allow for ease of performing your instruments on stage and should be modest

  • I have updated the band handbook to reflect these details

• Do Jazz-only students still need to pay the activity fee?

  • Jazz-only students should pay the activity fee as well

Volunteer Opportunities

There are currently no active signups.  You can also always see any open volunteering opportunities on the Volunteering page.

Have a great last week of band camp!  Keep up the great work.

Go Eagles!

JD

Now, a word from Mr. Sayre...

Hello Eagle Band Community!

Thank you for an awesome Band Camp!  You were quite impressive at the performance on Saturday.  We are looking forward to a great year!  

Our Jazz Combo performed at the second annual Heights Night at Lynwood Park on Saturday evening as well.  Huge shout out to these students that went above and beyond and put together another performance after our performance at Band Camp.  

As we look to the coming weeks be sure to include in your planning the SOAR Day event.  This will be on August 6.  Call time is at 7:40 AM in the band room so we can play through some pep tunes and head over to the gym and perform for incoming students and families.  

Go Eagles!

Mr. Sayre