Good evening,

I hope that you all had an incredible break with your loved ones and friends.

Monday: Raffle fundraiser starts

Tuesday: Pre LGPE concert at Mabry Arts Center

Wednesday: Jazz band after school until 4:30 (extended to rehearse for assembly)

Friday: Black History Month Assembly during the school day

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Pre LGPE Concert

Our next concert is at the Mabry Arts Center this Tuesday, March 1st. Report time is 5:00 pm for all students. 7th grade will perform at 6:00 PM and 8th grade will perform at 6:30 PM. We are having a judges panel attend to give us feedback leading into our big LGPE performance at the Carroll County Performing Arts Center on March 17th and 18th. Please ensure that students wear all black like we did for our Fall concert. Students are dismissed one their band finishes their performance.

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Raffle Fundraiser

Our students have the opportunity to participate in our raffle fundraiser from February 28th to March 14th. Each student will receive ten raffle tickets priced at $10 each. Customers will automatically be entered into a drawing for one or multiple of the following prizes:

• $50 Amazon gift card
• Set of Airpods Pro
• Nintendo Switch
• Instant Vortex 6 Quart Air Fryer

Our students will get incentives for selling raffle tickets as well!

• For every 10 sold, students will get their name entered into the grand prize drawing.
• For every 10 sold, students will also get their name entered into a drawing for a free fast food lunch on Ms. Menendez.
• For every 5 sold beyond that, their name will be entered again into each of those drawings!
• 8th graders will earn $5 towards their Carowinds trip for every ticket sold.

How the fundraiser works:

• Students will collect the $10 from the customer, tear the ticket in half so that the customer has their portion, and turn in the information portion to Ms. Menendez. 
• Ms. Menendez will document that purchase and credit it towards that student as well as enter their name into both drawings. 
• Drawing will occur on Tuesday, March 15th during homeroom!
• Cash or check (written out to CJHS Band)  is acceptable. 

Sincerely,

M. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Good morning,

There will be a fantastic concert tonight at the Carroll County Performing Arts Center! The University of West Georgia’s Wind Ensemble will perform a free concert beginning at 7:30 PM. I will be in attendance if you or your students would like to sit together and talk about the pieces together.

Our clarinet instructor, Mr. Christopher Mothersole, will be performing Tim McAllister’s “Black Dog” with his electric clarinet and guitar pedals! It will be a great concert and totally free!

I hope to see some of you all tonight.

Carroll County Performing Arts Center

775 Old Newnan Rd, Carrollton, GA 30116

Sincerely,

M. Menendez

Good afternoon,

I am excited that we all get a week of rest and rejuvenation and I hope that everyone is enjoying that time.

West Georgia Winds

Today is the last day to sign up for West Georgia Winds. This is an honor band group that meets on Sundays from 2-4 and performs under the baton of Dr. Josh Byrd, Director of bands at the University of West Georgia! Please visit http://www.westgawinds.com to view the schedule and click on this Google Form to sign up for an audition! Our students will have great success at their audition and are prepared to earn a spot in the ensemble.

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7th Grade Placement Auditions

Our 7th graders will audition on March 10th during class for their ensemble placements for next year. Please ensure that they take this audition seriously and that they are practicing over break leading into that audition. They will earn a spot in either our Concert Band, Symphonic Band, or Wind Ensemble next year. The difference in each band increasing in commitment, speed of pace, and difficulty. This allows for our students to get more individualized attention and for me to cater my teaching more effectively. Please let me know if you have any questions and I would be happy to answer them.

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Pre LGPE Concert

Our next concert is at the Mabry Arts Center on Tuesday, March 1st. Report time is 5:00 pm for all students. 7th grade will perform at 6:00 PM and 8th grade will perform at 6:30 PM. We are having a judges panel attend to give us feedback leading into our big LGPE performance at the Carroll County Performing Arts Center on March 17th and 18th.

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LGPE Dates and Times

The LGPE dates have been announced and should be absolutely finalized this week. I feel confident that our times will not change between now and the finalized schedule, so we can begin preparing.

7th grade: March 17th @4 PM

8th grade: March 18th @4:30 PM

An itinerary of those performance days will be handed out when we get back from break. Please mark your calendar and make sure that we fill up the Carroll County Performing Arts Center those nights to support our students! They have been working very hard on this music.

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Please let me know if you have any questions about the weeks ahead.

Sincerely,

M. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Good evening,

I am excited for another week with our amazing students!

Monday: 7th grade after school rehearsal until 4:15

Tuesday: 8th grade after school rehearsal until 4:15

Wednesday: Jazz Band rehearsal until 4:15

Rehearsals

Our rehearsal time for this week have been adjusted a little earlier in hopes that we can rehearse more efficiently. We will have our student athletes and students in other clubs remain for the entire rehearsal (an extra 15 minutes from last week unless they have a competition or a game) so that the full band can rehearse together. At 4:15 all students will be dismissed. This should allow us to get much more done without the disruption mid way through and will allow for us to go home earlier on a school night. Please let me know if you have any questions and I sincerely hope that this works better for all of us. Please keep our Pre LGPE concert on your radar. It is the Tuesday that we return from Winter break at the Mabry Arts Center. ( March 1st beginning at 6:00 PM)

Band Jackets

Our band jackets have come in! There are a few that are on back order and are set to be delivered later this week. I will let those students know individually if they are missing their jacket and will hand them out as soon as they come in.

District Honor Band

We had an incredible time at District Honor Band this week. Congratulations to Cadence Carr, Marie Fujita Block, Haley Rowell, Ann Haley, Aileen Yanney, Liam Price, and Samuel Duncan. These students worked incredibly hard in the Fall and were selected to participate in the District Honor Band for District 7. We enjoyed bowling, lots of yummy food, a Krispy Kreme visit, and playing with students under the baton of two fabulous conductors. I am so proud of them and hope that we will have an even bigger turnout next year!

New Course Offerings for 2022-2023 School Year

I am excited to announce our new course offerings for next school year at the Junior High School. Our students will have the option to participate in Instrumental Methods as well as audition to be in our ability based bands rather than being bundled together by grade. I have attached the Instrumental Methods info below for those that are curious. Instrumental Methods can either be taken for one semester, or taken twice to become a year long course.

Our current CJHS Bands are separated by grade, one being only for 7th graders and one for only 8th graders. Next year we will offer Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble just like our high school program does. You can think of this like an on level course, honors course, and AP or IB course. Each band will be comprised of both 7th and 8th grades. All three courses will have brass, woodwinds, and percussion which will eliminate the need for after school rehearsals. We will use our next chair test audition to place students in the appropriate course for next year in early March. Students will be given all information on that audition later this week.

The idea of this is to allow for more level-appropriate instruction, better differentiation, a mix of grades in each band, and to free up our after school schedule. Each student will get better one-on-one instruction and will get the chance to truly shine! Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Although this is new to us, this method of mixing both grades together is actually the norm for most band programs. I am thankful that our administration has allowed us to try this out and better serve our students.

Sincerely,

Ms. Maria Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Good afternoon,

Instrumental Studies Course (Current 7th graders only)

Carrollton Junior High School is considering offering a new course for current band students entitled Instrumental Studies. Our goal with this course is to enhance musical knowledge in more ways than the typical large ensemble setting. Course content includes music technology, music history, music theory, jass studies, improvisation studies, chamber music, audition techniques, and learning secondary instruments.

If your student is interested in selecting this course as their second elective, please fill out the Google Form below. All Instrumental Studies students must be enrolled in a band course concurrently. 

https://forms.gle/sdmXp6ZAZ13heDFz8

 This form does not mean that the student is signed up for the course, but serves as a way for us to gauge the general interest for this course. 

Jazz Band:

We will begin our jazz band rehearsals next Wednesday. The jazz band is a group that is open to all students at CJHS. No fees or auditions are required. We rehearse on Wednesdays from after school until 4:15 in the CJHS Band room.

Upcoming Rehearsals and Concert:

2/7: 7th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

2/8: 8th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

2/14: 7th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

2/15: 8th Grade Rehearsal at CJHS until 5:00

March 1: Pre LGPE Concert at Mabry Arts Center. Report time at 6:00 PM

Sincerely,

M. Menendez