Bison Bands November Newsletter

Dear Parents, Guardians, Friends, and Families:

For Thanksgiving, some of us will engage in something of a pilgrimage home; a wayfaring back to our roots and to where we once spent a great deal of time.

I love the sights, the smells, and the food of Thanksgiving. Most of all, I love the opportunity to connect my fading memories to people and reminisce about times of old. When possible, most of us relish the opportunity to visit our old neighborhood, see our old home, and visit with loved ones.

Yes, for many of us, a visit to our childhood home or neighborhood is nostalgic. The people living there now might be different and the front yard might have changed, but even decades later, its purpose remains unchanged: to serve as a safe place of refuge and harbinger of hopes and dreams.

In high school, music rooms serve a similar purpose. They are more than a rehearsal space. They serve as a refuge, home base, hangout, and secondary cafeteria to our students. Our musical sanctuaries serve as a remembrance of the past, connection to the present, and launch pad for the future. They serve as a place to survive the growing pains of high school and safe harbor from the occasional storm of adolescence. They serve as a place to not only succeed and fail, but to take risks and be challenged. My high school band room did this for me and I know that it is doing the same for your child.

This is why I teach. This is what I love about this profession. This is what I remember, not just about my home in high school, but the one I am attempting to create for my students.

Yes, we work hard and make some incredible music. But, in the end, I suspect that those memories will fade far quicker than those related to laughter, joy, and the feeling that there was a safe place where your child can rise, fall, and be cared for regardless of the outcome.

The inhabitants of my building may change from period to period, day to day, and year to year, but like my home, its purpose remains the same: to be somebody’s safe space and memory keeper.

So as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, let me say that I am thankful that you trust me with your child each and every day as I unlock the door and say, “ Welcome home!”

No matter what, enjoy your holiday at home with your family and some much welcomed days off!

Sincerely,

Garett George

P.S. Please read this newsletter in its entirety as there is important information regarding our upcoming events.

Since 1925, Bensenville Community High School (Fenton H.S. since 1955) has supported music education through it's annual Band & Choir Concert. This year, we celebrate 99 years of that tradition with our Annual Holiday Band & Choir Concert on Sunday, December 15th at 2:00 PM. Band students will need to be there by 12:15 so we can take our group yearbook pictures.

We are asking that all juniors bring cookies to use as refreshments. Juniors can drop these off during the week of December 9 or the day of the concert.

The Concert Band, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Banda Club and Choirs will all be performing at this concert. There will be plenty of holiday music and more!

At this concert, everyone will be wearing our concert dress uniform. There are parts of this uniform that the students are responsible for having and are not provided by Fenton Bands. Please click here for our Concert Attire information.

All family members and friends are invited and encouraged to attend this event.

The Fenton Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be providing several assemblies coming up in December.

On December 13th, both groups along with our choirs, will perform three assemblies for Fenton students in the morning. Later that day, we will all perform for the Westview, Tioga, and Johnson Elementary 4th and 5th graders for our Elementary Holiday Assembly at 10:15 AM. We are very excited and grateful to be able to provide our community with these performances! Thank you to the Bensenville Arts Council for sponsoring that event!

This is just a special reminder that the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Band will be having a dress rehearsal with the choirs on Wednesday, December 11th at 3:30 PM in the auditorium. All band students will need to attend this rehearsal so that we can be prepared for Sunday's 99th annual concert. This is the only time we can meet together, so we are asking athletes and active students to pre-arrange this with their coaches so that any conflicts can be handled ahead of time.

Please reach out to Mr. George if any help is needed with these arrangements.

The Fenton Jazz Ensemble has been working hard! The Jazz Ensemble has been meeting weekly on Tuesdays. They recently hosted several Chicago area Jazz Musicians/Educators at our annual Jazz Boot Camp. Students learned how to improvise and the language of America's music at this event. Please see the pictures below. We are grateful for the grant we received from the Bensenville Arts Council who sponsored our clinicians.

The Jazz Ensemble will have their dress rehearsal on Tuesday, December 10th, with the Jazz Ensemble at 5:30. Rehearsal will be in the auditorium. They will be performing at the Holiday assembly that week and at the Holiday Concert.

The Jazz Ensemble is also very busy after the holiday break. They'll be performing at Fitzgerald's Jazz Club on January 12 at 6:30 PM, 8th Grade Welcome Night on January 16th, their Tri-District Fine Arts Tour January 21st, and Hot Chocolate before school on January 31.

Please click here for a full Jazz Ensemble Calendar.

The Fenton Pep Band season schedule is here! Click here to view our schedule and what is expected of each band student while participating in Pep Band.

All band students are members of the Fenton Pep Band! Our first game is Friday, January 10th at the Special Olympics Basketball Game. Call time is 4:30. For Pep Band, students will wear their Pep Band T-Shirt (provided) and jeans please.

All students MUST attend the January 24th pep band date. FRESHMEN must attend three of the remaining five games and will get to choose their dates. Sophomores through seniors must attend four of the remaining five games and will get to choose their dates. Students who attend ALL of the pep band dates will be entered into the Pep Band Wall of Fame and have their name engraved on a perpetual plaque in the hallway!

The Fenton Concert Band is made up of freshman and sophomores who are pursuing their instrumental skills in a traditional band setting. These students work on critical listening, ensemble listening, scale development, music literacy, and more at an intermediate level.

The Concert Band began rehearsing together 5th hour the week of October 28th and have been making great progress! They will be performing for the first time on their own at the Holiday Band & Choir Concert as well as combining with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble for our grand finale.

Please note that the Concert Band students will have a playing assessment that is their final exam. More information is coming soon.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble is made up of sophomores through seniors who audition for the ensemble. The SWE pursues advanced band literature while also working on critical listening, ensemble listening, instrumental skill development, scales, music literacy, and more at an advanced level.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble began rehearsing together 4th hour the week of October 28th and have been making tremendous progress! They will be performing for the first time on their own at the Holiday Band & Choir Concert as well as combining with the Concert Band for our grand finale.

Please note that all band Symphonic Wind Ensemble students will have a playing assessment final exam. More information will be coming soon about this final.

Members of Fenton Bands performed at the Bensenville Park District's Veterans Day Breakfast 2024 on November 11th at White Pines. They played selections that included "God Bless America," "Salute to America's Finest," and "Salute to Freedom." Some students earned accelerated credit while others earned community service. Thank you to the following students for sharing your gifts with the members of our community!

• Alexandra Jarmolinski, Flute
• Victoria Socha, Trumpet
  
• Nadiye Selimi, Trumpet
• Eddie Partida, Trumpet
• Julia Windham, French horn
• Garrett Wawczak, Trombone
• Benjamin Sanchez, Alto Saxophone
• Aurora Reyes, Alto Saxophone
• Edith Gonzalez, Tenor Saxophone
  
• Valentin Camargo, Tuba
• Brandon Fontanez, Drums

We are always grateful for the continued support of our music boosters. They are helping our students raise funds to attend the Southern California trip! Please consider volunteering for this worthwhile organization!

Reminder that the Music Boosters meet on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM in the band room. Our next meeting is December 11th.

In order to keep our student musicians in great shape, there are a few things that need to happen at home as we continue to grow this year.

To begin , all band students should be practicing their music outside of class. Each band has copies of the rehearsal scheduled with what they should be practicing and when. These are printed and in Google Classroom. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble practice schedule is here. The Concert Band practice schedule is here.

The practice needs of each individual as it pertains to the challenges the music presents to them varies from person to person; therefore, setting an amount of time is very difficult. Our recommendation at this time is that those sessions be no shorter than 15-20 minutes at least four times a week (can be combined on weekends). Every family should be noticing some music playing in the home.

Additionally, we please ask that all students refrain from eating, drinking, or chewing gum before or during their instrumental music practice. Musical instruments do not respond well to the residues of food, drink, or gum. Thank you for your support!

Students in the band program will be taking a final exam for first semester. This exam is not a traditional paper and pencil test. Instead, it is a playing assessment of the skills they have been working on.

Students will be assigned the material and can start preparing for this assignment right after Thanksgiving break. It is due the Friday before final exam week IF THEY WANT TO BE EXEMPT FROM ATTENDING THEIR FINAL EXAM PERIOD. If students are okay with attending the final exam period, then it is due during their final exam period.

Parents & Guardians should be hearing students preparing this at home. If not, ask your band student about the assessment. Ask them to play it for you or have them do a mock assessment for you at home. Your connection to what they are doing can have a great impact on their progress and provide a feeling of support from you!

After the holiday break, students in the band program will continue to develop their instrumental music skills in band. Your student's instrumental music education and development is a year long process. Please remind your child that there is still much to work towards and look forward to, such as pep band, solo & ensemble contest, our spring concerts, our Southern California trip, ILMEA Concert Band Festival, Fenton Pep Night and more. We cannot make those opportunities happen with half a year's participation. Each and every student contributes to the sound of the band!

Please note that we encourage students to pursue music as a career after high school if they have that interest, but students in the band program are here for so many other reasons than just a career pursuit. Many working professionals were involved in their school bands and continue to be involved. We encourage students to continue playing and continue enjoying music after high school as it has such a profound impact on their lives!

As for next year, all students currently enrolled in band are recommended to continue on next school year. For a listing of band and other music classes, click here.

Thank you for your support of your student's music education!

Learning a musical instrument can be challenging, but it is also very rewarding. Playing a musical instrument is the equivelant to a full body workout for the brain! Our students have been working hard through all that life throws at them, and they are a tremendous source of inspiration for each other and their teachers! We are all so lucky to be able to get together, learn about music, share a laugh, and grow as a band family.

We look forward to sharing our music with our Fenton community on December 15th or at a Basketball game in January.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Musically yours,

Garett George

georgeg@fenton100.org

630-860-4944