Regardless, there is NO Concert Band Performance Tuesday (Tonight). :( hopefully your students told you of South's need to cancel. I am sorry for not posting sooner, again hopefully your students have communicated this with you last week and the lack of any paperwork/information received was a clue something had gone awry. Concert band will have a performance on March 11 at Roosevelt HS 7pm and also on March 25 at Folwell for the chamber music / solo & ensemble recital.
Yesterday (Monday), concert band attended a performance by Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Ordway. It was awesome! Please ask your students about it.
The first ever Folwell Band Olympiad gets underway this Thursday. We are doing our delayed Play-a-thon fundraiser from February 14-24. Students will each need to have 10 hours of practice (outside the school day) between these dates. Mr. Reeve and I will be tallying daily practice for competition between students sections and bands. Many prizes will be awarded.
Additionally, because this is the bands annual fundraiser, I am asking students to find 10 people they would be proud to have as sponsors of their practice time to help financially support the band program here at Folwell. In this type of fundraising, there is no selling of products and the entirety of student effort is directly tied to student learning. As the saying goes, "many hands make for light work." If everybody does a little work to participate and help find sponsors, it can have a big effect on the outcome. For example, if each student finds 10 sponsors for $1/hr., that would mean each student collects a maximum of $10/sponsor for $100 total per student. Multiply that by 100+ students and what we have is a simple, easy and effective fundraiser directly tied to student learning outcomes! And, if all that isn't good enough, since no goods or services are exchanged, each sponsor's donations is tax deductible - for which they are provided a thank-you letter/tax receipt.
As you're helping your student generate a list of 10 people to obtain sponsorships from, please think beyond local relatives, friends and business partners. I've asked students not to use their Folwell teachers as sponsors. Sending a sponsor letter out is simply the cost of a stamp - which the band will gladly provide to sponsors in the US. In the past, we've received letters from most of the US states and as far as Mexico & Norway.
As you're helping your student generate a list of 10 people to obtain sponsorships from, please think beyond local relatives, friends and business partners. I've asked students not to use their Folwell teachers as sponsors. Sending a sponsor letter out is simply the cost of a stamp - which the band will gladly provide to sponsors in the US. In the past, we've received letters from most of the US states and as far as Mexico & Norway.
Band Olympics will track each student's practice efforts, ensemble performance & rehearsal etiquette, quizzes and general willingness to take musical risks (just like Olympians). In addition to individual competition components, just like in band, sections work together as a section team in earning points/medals: Percussia, Brassghanistan and Windbabwe. Bands also work together with all their sections combined in team competition against the other bands: Varsity, Firebird and Concert band students are all this year's Band Olympians.
Watch for Play-a-thon letters by Wednesday.
Thanks for all of your support. Here is a link to a great article on why music education really matters.
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