Band Updates and Reminders

We are eagerly awaiting delivery of our polos and tees. Tees are for 5th and 6th grade band, while polos are for middle school band.

Why polos? It is tradition for bands to wear uniforms. For a concert band, we see the use of concert black, as the dress of the performer should not detract from the music being performed. You'll see professional groups, collegiate groups, as well as high school groups in concert black. This is typically long sleeve tops, floor length skirts or pants, men even wear tuxedoes! Middle school bridges that gap between the t-shirt uniform in 5th and 6th grade band and the concert black dress of their future high school groups. The polo offers that in between. Students will look top notch in their concert black polos, while still having the comfort of a short sleeve/tee type and not long sleeve/suit shirt. Showcasing our new arts logo will pop on the stage! Purchasing a common shirt also ensures uniformity of dress across the ensemble. I cannot wait for you to see how amazing they will look.

Accessories for concerts/festivals:

Middle school band students can pair their polo with jeans or black pants for at home concerts (at Stetson Hills). However, remember for our festival performances (performance assessment, ABODA, etc), the polo will be paired with nice black pants and nice solid black shoes. Ladies are welcome to wear skirts, however, they must hang below the knee while seated in a chair. Shoes can be dress shoes, sandals, or sneakers, but they must be SOLID BLACK SHOES. Gentlemen shirts will need to be tucked in, so if a belt is needed, it needs to be a black belt. Please pair shoes with black socks. Our uniform is concert black, but with the polo modification and variation on shoes... no white wall sneakers are permitted! Start finding those items now, as their festival performance is November 14 @BCHS (during the day)

5th and 6th grade students may pair their tees with jeans or black pants and any shoes. Shorts, sweats, pjs are not permitted.

Click the title above for link to DVUSD online payment. Ensure to select correct t-shirt or polo option and send a copy of the receipt (print/email) for verification. Thank you!

Just a quick reminder that the front office will not be able to accept any forgotten items like chromebooks and instruments. With about 150 students in the band program, if even a quarter of the group forgot their instruments, it would make for a lot of interruptions for the office to take instruments and call students down to retreive them. We've discussed strategies in class like setting our instrument out the night before, so it does not get forgotten at the last minute. Most times when instruments are forgotten, the students tell me "I was running late and rushing." That will definitely happen! We do not have alternate instruments for rehearsals/practice. I sincerely apologize for any issue this may cause.

Students in band will have regular assignments and assessments to ensure practicing is happening at home and check for understanding. These will be based on skills being worked on in class. In many instances, Canvas has help links available to provide extra explanation and guidance outside of what was taught in class. Middle School has practice tracks availble in their Canvas to assist students in learning their music (concert music, Honor Band etude, and All-State etudes). 6th grade is about to have their honor band etude uploaded to practice with.

Concepts needed to perform on the instrument can also be assigned homework or quizzing. This would include, but not limited to, reading the music staff, knowing note/rest symbols and duration, fingerings for the notes on their instrument, scale based activities on paper, and more! It is so important the students play the music, but also they understand the foundation of the music.

All testing and retakes for 2nd quarter will end on Wednesday, October 2. If any student has missing assignments, or scores they would like to fix, they are welcome to upload playing retakes in Canvas (more for 6-8th grade) or come in during RTI/recess to do written retakes. With grades closing shortly after this date, no exceptions can be made past 3:30pm on Wednesday, October 2. The sooner, the better!

Did you know the 2pm PLC days offer an opportunity for collaboration from ALL DVUSD band teachers? Being a singlet for this content area on campus, there is not much opportunity for collaboration. DVUSD has graciously thought of this and set up the opportunity for collaboration amongst content areas (band, choir/gen music, STEM, art, PE). Together, we discuss band specific needs, as well as mentor our younger teachers. I serve as DVUSD band curriculum co-lead (a shared position) and help plan and present material for our K6, K8 and Middle School band directors. This time is so valuable and I know I speak for all the band directors in saying it is beyond appreciated to have time to collaborate together to bring new concepts/ideas/information to our students!

This past week, district provided us a hands on training for Music First, which is a curriculum tool we will begin implementing in weeks ahead. Currently, we use it in class for the Sight Reading platform. Students will begin registering for their classes via QR code and/or link provided in Canvas. Stay tuned on Music First!

I thought it may be fun, being new to Stetson Hills, to include a little bit about me from time to time. Here is my fun fact for this newsletter... I have lived in 6 different states in my life! Born in Massachusettes, I moved to Michigan at 2 weeks old. In first grade we moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. I moved to Columbia, South Carolina to attend USC for undergraduate studies. Back to Ohio for masters degree, then finally out to Arizona for my doctorate. My entire family moved out here with me! I moved to Montana for 9 months to serve as Principal Oboist of the Great Falls Symphony, Chinook Quintet, and Associate Principal Oboist of the Helena Symphony. I returned to Arizona after that interim year to complete my doctorate and eventually join DVUSD!

Pictured is my high school, Lakota West High School, at the Midwest Clinic. I graduated in 1999, but was asked to return as a featured alumni performer. Check out the performance here: https://youtu.be/GiEpSB-l4NY?si=jRhJX5pF0WKZzFxU&t=1722