October 16, 2007

Greetings from the Band Office!

Bravo to everyone who had a part in the Spaghetti Dinner and Auction. Final computations regarding profit are still being conducted, but I personally applaud everyone for coming together and making the night a success. We had MANY students and parents serving, working and having fun together with everyone giving of their time talents, money and energy for the good of the organization. Thank you!

Items of note: Wednesday morning is a different school schedule with many students taking the PSAT & PLAN tests. Thursday will be an Odd schedule and Friday will be back to normal.

Wednesday, Oct 17 is the Shawnee Mission Marching Festival held at South Stadium beginning at 7:00 p.m. The West Pride will march at approximately 7:30. Parents please sit together so you can more easily encourage our kids! Nothing spurs them on more than a loud, energetic cheering section. Watch the Band-aides website in case of inclement weather. IF the show is canceled it will be posted there as soon as we find out.

Friday, Oct 19 is the last regular season football game which is also the Flashlight show and Senior night.

Senior students and parents – senior band members will stay in uniform after pre-game. Parents you will meet your student on the back 50 yard line prior to the end of the first half. You will need to line up in alphabetical order by the student's last name. After the dance team performs, the band member's and their parent's names will be read. Please make your way to the center of the field for a picture and then form a line on the near hash. Parents you will probably want to dress up for this event. This is to honor both the students and parents. Eight years of band is a huge commitment from ALL of you.

Flashlight Show – Every marching band student on the field should plan on having two large “D” cell flashlights so they can taped to the outside of their legs. Glow sticks are also appropriate for their instruments and other clothing. Val Barth has purchased a limited number for students to use if needed. Please see Mr. Hupe or Mr. Thomas for help obtaining these. Do not wait until Friday to purchase batteries, flashlights or glow sticks. Plan ahead and prepare. The performance will take place AFTER the game. We will also be honoring Kelsey Smith prior to our performance since this was always a highlight of her year.

Saturday, Oct 20 – K-State Marching Festival. The equipment will stay loaded from Friday night’s football game. Students are to come in street clothes. When we arrive at K-State we will set for a one hour rehearsal with the K-State MB Staff at 2:00 p.m. After that we will go to the Snyder Stadium to watch several other bands perform. At the appointed time we will meet back in the parking lot to eat dinner (appx. 4:00) and then change into uniform and begin our contest preparation. We perform our show at 6:45 p.m. The K-State Band performs at 8:00. Awards are at 8:20. Busses will load immediately after awards and we will head home. I apologize from the depth of my heart - we do not have continental busses. I tried for over two months to obtain nice busses, but they were just not available for this weekend. Therefore we will be riding on yellow school busses. Sorry.

Fall Concert - Freshman Concert Band, Jazz Lab Ensemble and Overland Express - October 23, 7:00 p.m. SM West Cafeteria. This is the first concert of the year for the Concert Band and official first concert for Jazz Lab and OE. The concert will begin at 7:00 p.m. This concert has traditionally been split with the orchestra. Since the orchestra had their concert a couple of weeks ago, the calendars are not in agreement, so let’s get done earlier by starting earlier. Freshman football players, I have talked with your coaches, you will all play the 4:00 football game on that day. Remind your coaches you are a band member so you play the early game. Everyone, please see the band handbook for appropriate concert attire. Freshman Concert Band call time is 6:15 dressed and ready to perform. Meet in the band room. Jazz Bands come at 6:30.

Marching Band Auditions for Sym Band/Wind Ensemble – The audition music and procedures were passed out to all students on Monday morning. The first round playing test is due to Mr. Thomas no later than 3:00 p.m. on Friday, November 2. The first round music is a small excerpt from the district band auditions. Round two will be an excerpt from something we will probably be performing on the first concert. Parents if you have not heard yet, the marching band will not split at this time due to lack of physical space to rehearse because of construction. Therefore, we will work as one band until we have access to another rehearsal space later in the year. It is unfortunate because I know many students look forward to the Wind Ensemble experience, but we will survive and we will grow. This is only a short term setback though. Playing test will be graded and will carry the same weight as a performance. It is important that the tests be taken seriously. Please ask a section leader of director for help if needed!

Continued Fundraising – don’t forget about the ongoing Office Max fundraiser. Anytime you need to make an office type purchase, please go to your nearest Office Max and use this number: 194127022 when checking out. This is a Max Perks ID number for the SM West Band. 10% of your purchase will be credited to the band, 20% if it is ink or toner! Old ink jet and toner cartridges can be brought to the band office for recycling along with old cell phones that you might be getting rid of. All of these will add a little to our operating budget. Don’t forget purchases for your office in which you work.

Follow this link for a nice article about our royal London visit: http://www.smsd.org/Newsline/District/101207/101207_royalinvite.htm

Until next week – keep the music playing…

___________________________

Bill Thomas

Director of Bands

Shawnee Mission West High School

email: wethomas@smsd.org

voice: 913-993-7852