I am not always the best at asking for help, but this week it will be needed. I have been out sick for most of last week and making it through the events we have going on this week will be a big challenge for me. Here's what I'm looking for help with:

• 2-3 Honors Band parents able to help with Pre-UIL on Monday
• 2-3 Wind Symphony parents able to help with Pre-UIL on Tuesday

We would need your help at the school at 2:45pm until we arrive back at Hudson around 7:00pm. If a few of you would be willing to ride a bus with us, that would be a big help as well.

• 3-4 parents to help chaperone the pizza/board game party for our Winter Practice Challenge earners on Wednesday from 4:00-6:00pm
• 1 parent to help with the recruiting trip to Lister on Thursday morning from 7:40-9:20am

We gave out a Winter Practice Challenge sheet just before the holiday break. The students are tasked with practicing for at least 20 minutes for 62 of the 77 days on the page. If they meet the challenge, they will be invited to a pizza and board game party the week before Spring Break. Parents must initial each snowflake (day) that they practice and all forms must be turned in on Monday, March 6th. **WE CANNOT ACCEPT LATE CHALLENGES DUE TO THE PIZZA ORDER THAT MUST BE PLACED IN ADVANCE.**

Find a copy of the Winter Practice Challenge form here.

Students who complete the Winter Practice Challenge are invited to a pizza and board game party from 4:15pm-6:00pm on Wednesday, March 8th.

There will be no Select Beginner Rehearsal this week due to Honors Band Pre-UIL. We will have our next rehearsal after spring break, on Monday, March 20th. We have made the decision to increase the Select Beginner Band rehearsals by 15 minutes. The rehearsals for the remainder of the year will end at 5:30pm instead of 5:15pm. This will allow us to have almost 2 extra hours of rehearsal over the course of the semester. Thanks for being flexible with us!

Congratulations to the following Beginner Band students who will be representing their instrument on our 5th grade demonstration trips this week and after spring break:

Heldana Tekle, flute; Abbygail Carr, oboe; Crockett Albus, bassoon; Natalie Woodham, clarinet; Abigail Day, saxophone; Yoftahe Awoke, trumpet; Tyger Vu, horn; Joseph Le, trombone; Vanessa Donovan, euphonium; Campbell Russell, tuba; Jackson Winegar, percussion.

Click here for a detailed itinerary for the trips.

For Advanced Band students who did not participate at the contest at Austin Academy last weekend, the makeup solo contest will be held at Hudson Middle School on Thursday, March 9th. The schedule for performances can be found here. Students should dress up professionally for their judge and play to the best of their ability. They will receive a test grade for their preparation and another for their performance on the day of the contest.

There is only 1 week left in the 3rd quarter. Please check your student's grades in Skyward and help encourage them to turn in any missing work, attend tutorials, and stay on top of their assignments as we close out the 3rd quarter. We know they can get it done!

If you know any students in the 5th grade (or any other current middle school students who wish they had joined band this year) and are coming to Hudson next year, please tell them to be on the lookout for a chance to sign up for one of our Instrument Selection Drives on our band website.

We are thrilled with the growth in our program this year and look forward to welcoming tons of new Hawk Band members next year! Our best recruiting tool is our current and former band families - please help us spread the word about joining band and getting more amazing students to be part of our band family!

We know that many of our students will need braces during the course of their middle school years. Every band instrument can be played with braces, however, it is a big adjustment that often takes weeks or months for the student to feel "back to normal" once they get them. As you are scheduling this big change for your student, please be mindful of the band performance calendar to help our students be able to perform their best this semester.

March 6-7 - HB & WS Pre-UIL Evaluation

April 4-5 - HB & WS UIL Evaluation

April 22 - Beginner All-Star Band Audition

April 27 - WS Peak Festival

May 6 - Beginner Solo Contest

May 12 - Spring Festival for All Band Students

May 13 - All-Star Band Clinic/Concert

May 17 - HMS Bands Spring Concert for All Students

During a special meeting on February 14, the GISD Board of Trustees approved calling a bond election to be held on May 6, 2023. The GISD Bond 2023 includes 3 propositions totaling $1.279 billion. To learn more about The GISD Bond 2023, please visit garlandisd.net/bond2023

If your student was involved in the TMEA Region 3 All-Region Bands, there were professional recordings made of all of the concerts. Due to copyright laws, the recordings were not able to be sold, however, we have been given permission to share the recordings with our families. THIS LINK TAKES YOU TO ALL OF THE RECORDINGS. Feel free to download the recordings of your student's performance, as they will not be available for long!

Please make sure your student in the Wind Symphony, Honors Band, or Symphonic Band have their required supplies for this year. We are using the Foundations for Superior Performance book in all band classes and many students do not yet have the book. We are also beginning to work on tuning and if your student does not still have their tuner/metronome from beginner band, they will need one ASAP.

Because our band has grown so big, we can no longer use Remind. We have reached the maximum participants in multiple classes and do not have space for more unless we upgrade our account (which costs more than we wish to spend). We will be switching messaging services to the BAND app (which the Sachse HS band also uses) to align our cluster. Please sign up for the appropriate class(es) for your student. We will NO LONGER be using Remind, so if you were just signed up for band, you will not need that app/number any longer. Thanks for understanding!

22-23 ALL HMS Band Students/Parents

Beginner Band

Symphonic Band

Honors Band

Wind Symphony

22-23 HMS BAND PARENTS ONLY

If your student is using a school owned instrument (or is a percussionist), the school-owned instrument usage fee has been added to your student's Charms account. Woodwind and Brass players will now see a fall and spring fee for $25 each, or $50 for the whole year. Percussionists will see a fall fee for $25.

Oboes, bassoons, bass clarinets, tenor saxes, bari saxes, French horns, euphoniums, tubas, and the few students who play a different instrument that is owned by the school will see that fee now and can pay it by cash, check (made out to Hudson Band Boosters), or through Charms (using Paypal).

This fee was originally supposed to be paid in Skyward, but we are adjusting the process for ease of charge and payment.

If you have any questions or have any issues logging in to Charms to check on fees, please let me know and I am happy to help!

Our private teachers are THE BEST and their schedules are starting to fill up. If you are going to sign up for private lessons, DON'T WAIT - TURN IN THE ENROLLMENT FORM ASAP.

The single biggest investment you can make in your student's musical advancement is signing them up for private lessons. Return the private lesson enrollment form to get your student started ASAP. Lessons are $20 each week and the fee is paid directly to the instructor.

Because our school band budget is so small, we have to charge a band fee so that we can provide the best music education experience for all our band students. This band fee covers all instructional materials (band binder and all its contents), band shirt, contest entry fees, solo accompanist fees, performance music, music theory subscription, transportation, meals before performances, incentive days, and so much more. We set up our band fees to be collected up front (or split into payments), so that we are not constantly asking for $5 here, $7 there, etc.

This year, you can pay band fees through cash or check (made out to Hudson Band Boosters), Paypal through Charms (watch this video to walk you through the Charms system), and for the first time - credit card through the band website. Visit the band website and enter the password HawkBD2223 to enter the secure page and pay online. Please consider adding the optional donation to your cart to cover the credit card fees we incur using this convenient service.

If you have a financial hardship, please communicate with us so we can help you. We never want a student to be unable to participate due to finances and will do everything we can to work with your family and ensure your student is included.

Please take a moment this week to log in to Charms. www.charmsoffice.com

Log in as a parent/student/member

The school code is hudsonsoundmachine

The password for first time users is your student's GISD ID number (should be 6 digits)

For non-first time users, your password should be your student's ID with their capitalized initials in front (i.e. HB123456) unless you've changed it to something else.

Please update contact information (add adults as necessary), check your student's birthday ID, instrument, etc. and make changes as necessary. If you have questions or have difficulty logging in, please contact Mrs. Becker.

Heather Becker - Director

Dan Urban - Assistant Director

Email: hdbecker@garlandisd.net
Website: www.hudsonband.org
Phone: 972-675-3070
Facebook: facebook.com/hudsonmsband
Twitter: @hudsonhawkband