This newsletter includes:
- Upcoming Dates
- Congrats, Mr. Newman!
- Chaperones/Uniforms helpers needed
- Last chance to purchase photos!
- Concert Attire arriving soon!
- Hospitality Volunteer Needed
- RaiseRight for the Holidays!
- Marching Band Fees
- New feature in CutTime!
- Gwinnett County Youth Wind Symphony
For your reference:
- Where to find Band info
- Band Google calendar link
- All about CutTime
- All about RaiseRight
- All about the Band App
- Sponsor Spotlight
- Band Booster Board
- Band Committee members
Dates to remember:
Tues (11/19)
- Winter Guard Rehearsal (5-8pm)
Thurs (11/21)
- Winter Guard Rehearsal (5-8pm)
- Marching Band/Guard rehearsal (5:30-7pm) note end time
Fri (11/22)
- Students report to NHS at 4:45pm
- 2nd Round of Playoffs vs. Grayson HS @ Grayson
Mon (11/25) - Fri (11/29)
- Thanksgiving Break
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Mon (12/2)
- Band Booster Meeting (7:30pm)
Tues (12/3)
- Winter Guard Rehearsal (5-8pm)
- Percussion Concert (7pm)
Wed (12/4)
- All Band classes have after-school rehearsal (2:30-5:30pm)
Thurs (12/5)
- Winter Guard Rehearsal (5-8pm)
Friday (12/6)
- Marching students meet at the Norcross Police Department (5:30pm)
- Marching Band performs in the Norcross Holiday Parade at Thrasher Park
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Mon (12/9)
- Winter Guard Rehearsal (5-8pm)
Tues (12/10)
- Winter Concert (7pm)
- Winter Guard Rehearsal (5-8pm)
Sat (12/14)
- All-State Band Auditions at NHS (Hospitality Volunteer needed - see below!)
The marching band photos are in and the deadline to purchase them is Friday, Nov. 22! This is our first time doing this and we hope to improve on the process next year. We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Caroline Grant for offering her services to the Band!
Here is the link to the band photo gallery: NHSBAND
Photo collection by Caroline Grant Photography
Password: nORCROSS_Band2024
Please review and select the images you want by clicking on the image and then clicking on the heart for favorites. Enter your email address. You can select as many photos as you want to purchase. Cost is $15 per image. You can pay via Venmo to @Dana-Zamuel or via Paypal at dana0912@yahoo.com. The selected favorite images will be emailed to you once we receive payment. Deadline to purchase images is Friday, Nov. 22. If you have any questions, please contact Dana Zamuel at dana0912@yahoo.com. This is a band fundraiser and completely optional. Thank you for supporting our NHS Marching Band!
Concert attire orders are starting to come in but won't be sent home with students until payment is received. If you haven't already done so, please send payment in with your child to be placed in the blue box in the directors office ASAP. Checks can be made out to NHS Band Boosters and please note your student's name and "Concert Attire" on all payments. We do still have pre-owned Tux pieces priced at $10 per piece, if your student would prefer to purchase these items (please email us or let the directors know). Fees are as follows:
Concert Dress - $75
Concert Tux (full ensemble) $120
Tux Jacket $65
Tux Pants $30
Tux shirt $20
Bow tie $5
Cummerbund $10
Please reach out to Robin Whitesides (rjwhitesides@gmail.com) for questions about Concert Attire and Katie Saleeby (katiesaleeby@gmail.com) for questions about Student Accounts/Payment. Thank you!
Volunteer needed to organize the hospitality room for All State Auditions on December 14th! We need an individual or two to organize breakfast and lunch for about 40 judges for All State auditions. Breakfast includes things like bagels, pastries/donuts, fruit, juice and coffee. Lunch is pub subs, chips, fruit, water and soda. We also provide grab and go snacks like granola bars, etc. The time commitment is 7am to 11am on Dec. 14th.
Please reach out to peggyconnolly01@gmail.com with questions or sign up in CutTime. Thank you!
Don’t forget RaiseRight for your holiday shopping plans! If you are planning to give physical gift cards this year, take advantage of RaiseRight to put a few extra dollars in your student’s band account.
Remember, physical gift cards that are purchased through your Norcross High RaiseRight account will be consolidated and shipped to Mary Gibson, our coordinator, to be distributed. This year, we will distribute physical card orders the evening of the Band Winter Concert on Tuesday, December 10. Unless you have pre-paid for your order, you should plan to pay by check at that time.
You must place all orders for physical gift cards no later than Sunday, December, 1 to receive your cards on December 10. If you have any questions, reach out to Mary Gibson (marytgibson@gmail.com).
Please note that any outstanding marching bands fees are past due at this time. Students and/or parents, please check your account in CutTime and make final payments. If you are unable to check your fees or have any questions, please email Katie Saleeby at (katiesaleeby@gmail.com) or Catalina Correa (catalmco@gmail.com).
Do you have family and friends who want to support you with band? Did you know you can send them a personalized link via a text message with a link to be able to donate right into your account? They can use that link to send money online directly to your account.
> Log in to your CutTime account and scroll down to the financial summary. You will see "Make a Payment" in green and you will see a button right next to it that says Share these costs"
> Click on "Share these costs" and you will see a second screen that allows you to send invitations. Click on Example SMS message to see the link that will go out on your behalf. Click on "How does this feature work" to see a short video about this.
> Fill in the information with your donor's name and cell phone number and click the green button to send out the invitations to your aunts, grandparents and family friends!
There are 3 important places you can find specific Band info:
Our website https://www.norcrosshighband.org/ has newsletters & the google calendar for the year
CutTime has volunteer sign-ups, student account info, and will alert you to a new newsletter
The Band App has any last minute changes to schedules, important reminders, photos from practices & games, and you can post any questions you have!
NHS Band Google calendar:
New CutTime options! (texts vs emails)
We heard back from CutTime and for those of you who would prefer email notifications for the weekly newsletter, you can change your preferences! CutTime uses SMS texts as the primary mode of communication, but if a member or guardian has both a cell phone AND an email, they can reply "STOP" to CutTime's phone number(s) to opt out of receiving text messages and designate email as their preferred communication method.
Note: An individual's preferred communication method currently cannot be designated in CutTime - they must reply STOP or START to toggle their preference. Hope this change is helpful to some of you!
New Way to Earn Money for Your Student Account!
RaiseRight has introduced a new way to shop and earn money for your student account! Visit the website or update your app and you will see a new option to “Shop Online.” When you select this option, you’ll see a list of online stores and the rebate that you will earn when you visit one of these online stores through your RaiseRight account. This is a great option for those of you who prefer not to pay the credit card transaction fee or connect your checking account to your RaiseRight account. Once you click through to your choice of store or brand, your online experience should be the same as when you go directly to the store site – but when you make your purchase, a percentage of your purchase will be added to your student account. No need to purchase a gift card before shopping! You can read the terms and conditions on the RaiseRight site – there is a good FAQ with additional information.
RaiseRight Gift Card Program
RaiseRight is a gift card program that you can use to help fund your student’s band account. When you create your account & link it to the NHS band program, the rewards you earn will be credited to your student’s band account to help offset band fees. Anyone can join, so you can also invite grandparents or other family members to set up their own accounts & help fund band activities.
Here’s how it works:
RaiseRight offers electronic and physical gift cards for a wide variety of restaurants and stores. When you purchase a gift card, a percentage of that purchase goes to your student’s account. Each vendor decides on their percentage, and percentages can change - think of it like a sale. So one month, you may purchase a gift card for Home Depot for $100 that offers 2% — that means that $2 goes to your student’s account. The following month, you purchase a $100 Home Depot gift card that offers 3% — and your student account gains $3. Percentages can vary widely - recently,
L.L. Bean offered a 19% reward! Consider downloading the app so that you can easily check on current percentages for your favorite vendors.
These numbers may seem small, but they can add up quickly — and all you are doing is using gift cards to make purchases that you were already going to make. RaiseRight is a great way to fundraise for your student throughout the year, without having to ask for donations.
Ecards and Physical Cards
The program is flexible and allows you to buy electronic cards that you can store on your phone, or physical cards that you can keep or gift. If you choose to buy an electronic gift card, you can use it right away. That means you don’t have to plan ahead, or buy cards that you think you might use in the future.
If you decide to order physical cards, they will be mailed to our RaiseRight coordinator, Mary Gibson. We will provide a deadline for ordering physical cards to be included in our monthly shipment, tied to band booster meetings whenever possible. At each band booster meeting, Mary will be present distributing the pre-purchased gift cards that are part of that month’s shipment. You can pay online when you order these cards, or you can bring cash or check to the booster meeting. The band also pre-purchases physical Publix gift cards and these will be available to purchase from Mary at these meetings.
To learn more about which stores and restaurants accept RaiseRight cards, go to https://www.raiseright.com/brands.
To set up your account, go to www.raiseright.com and follow the instructions to create your account. Be sure to use this enrollment code to link your account to the NHS band: AD2EE1C314469.
If you have questions or need help, contact Mary Gibson at marytgibson@gmail.com.
For those of you using RaiseRight, please be aware that RaiseRight has updated its fee structure:
- RaiseRight has increased the convenience fee for gift card purchases using credit cards, effective on February 1. The current fee of 2.6% will increase to 3% when a credit card is used to make a gift card purchase on RaiseRight.com, and on the mobile app.
- This increase does not apply to debit card purchases (1% per transaction) or to linked bank account purchases ($0.29 per transaction).
Do you have the BAND app yet?
To join the Marching Band group, please click: https://band.us/n/a9afA4TfU6Ia0
To join the Concert/Symphonic Bands group, click: https://band.us/n/a4a2A2T6UcIbo
On the app, you can see posts from Directors and parents, ask questions, and share info and pictures. This will be where notifications will be posted for parents (i.e. When are the kids getting home from an away game? Volunteer opportunities? How do I access CutTime?). Photos from Band Camp have been posted here as well. It's a great resource for you to be able to access our Band community. Come band with us!
Thank you, Ben Choi & Keystone Mortgage, for becoming a Silver Sponsor at the $500 level!
Ben Choi
Broker / Owner | NMLS#: 2408861
Mortgage Loan Originator | NMLS#: 1966661
Peachtree Corners, GA
(678) 860-1190 | benchoimortgage@gmail.com
Norcross Bands
Email: norcrosshighband@gmail.com
Website: www.norcrosshighband.org
Location: 5300 Spalding Drive, Norcross, GA, USA
Phone: (770) 326-8066
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorcrossHighSchoolBand