Good morning,
A little more information on Trojan Band here at the Junior High School. Trojan Band is an ensemble that plays for the JH football team during their home games. It is completely optional but is highly recommended because it is an absolute blast. The students play cheers in the stands and at half time go inside to eat some pizza and hang out with their fellow band members. After they finish eating they are picked up and go home with you. We only play for the first half of the game. Below are a few reminders:
- If your 8th grader was in it last year have them remind me so that I can add them to the roster.
- If you need a replacement shirt OR hat it is $10. That is due by Friday. If you are missing both then please pay the full fee so that I can order those for you.
- We have ONE after school rehearsal and it is the 12th of September from 3:30-4:30.
- If your child participates in other activities that is okay. They can come to however many games they can make. Any game is better than no games in my eyes. I want for as many kids as possible to be able to have a blast with their peers cheering on our school and pumping up the crowd.
- I will need volunteers each and every game. If you did not fill that out on our volunteer form then please shoot me an email or respond to this post.
Beginners: If your child is adding in for the first time this year then please consider bringing them to our Jump Start Camp at the Middle School this Saturday from 9AM- Noon. This is a camp that we do for beginners each year that gives them a basic run down of their instrument and how to make a great sound. We hire professionals to teach them and to get them started on reading their music on their instrument and playing a few notes. I highly recommend it.
For those beginners we will begin having optional Wednesday after school rehearsals until 4. That will allow me to give them the attention that they need to catch up.
District Honor Band Information: District honor band is an ensemble that students can audition for. Students who make the ensemble will sit amongst the top students in our district and play challenging music with a guest conductor for a weekend. DHB begins on a Thursday night in February and ends with a wonderful concert on Saturday. It is one of the experiences that molded me as a band student and opened my eyes to what other band students sounded like around our district. Your students would be exposed to high quality teaching, music and fun! The link to the required music is here:
https://www.gmea.org/ms-scales-etudes
Students who score high enough on their DHB audition are offered the option to audition for the state level honor band called All State. If you feel that your student is hard working, loves a challenge, and would like to add a wonderful bump to their resume/college application then please make sure that they receive an etude from me. All students have been given the scales required for the audition but only those auditioning will need the etude.
Sorry for the long post! Enjoy the rest of your week and let me know if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
M. Menendez
cjhstrojanband 