We are excited about the upcoming academic year, and we want to share several updates today that impact our Trojan Marching Band students as early as this weekend.
Marching Band Newcomers and "Big Sisters/Brothers"
New students to our Marching Band are assigned a "Big Sister/Brother" to offer peer-support during the start-up of the school year and offer help adjusting to the lifestyle of high school. The older "siblings" are members of our Trojan Marching Band Student Leadership Team (Section Captains and Drum Majors). If you have a child who is new to our Trojan Marching Band this year, they have likely already received a phone call from their assigned older sibling. New members of the marching band should have also received a welcome letter at home from their Section Captain.
Marching Band Newcomer Party - Saturday, August 3
Our student leaders are hosting a welcome party for our new Trojan Marching Band members, this Saturday evening, at the home of Drum Major Carissa Blumka. This annual gathering is a fun way for new Marching Band students to meet one another, and their student leaders, prior to the start of Band Camp on Monday, August 5. Attendance is not required, but strongly encouraged! This is a great way to break the ice and ask some questions before we hit the ground running at Band Camp. The gathering at Carissa's home will be supervised by parent chaperones, and not attended by DGN staff. We extend our thanks to the Blumka family for opening their home to host this year's party!
Date: Saturday, August 3
Time: 4 - 8 PM
Address: (see email)
Band Camp WikiHow
Mr. Smith has put together a document about our Band Camp, with suggestions to help students have a successful camp experience! We strongly encourage all Marching Band students to read the "WikiHow" this week, in preparation for Band Camp beginning on August 5. This resource can answer a lot of questions, and help everyone prepare to be successful during the entire week!
https://tinyurl.com/BandCampWiki
Trojan Marching Band Group Lunch
Next Monday is our first day of Band Camp 2019. The morning session (8:00 AM - 12:00 PM) is only for our NEW students, and our Student Leaders. However, when the morning session ends, we would like ALL of our Trojan Marching Band Members to eat together during the lunch break, therefore, we are expecting ALL members to report to the school at 12:00 PM for our group lunch. This year, we are so thankful to have had our lunch donated by the Friends of Fine Arts! All students will be provided a lunch, and this will be a great opportunity to come together as a Band Family and break bread together before we jump into the activities for the week.
Band Fees Update
Some families may remember in the April Kick-Off Mailing that there was a new item included on the band fees. This was to accommodate the purchase of a drill learning app, called Ultimate Drill Book, to facilitate student learning and more effectively spend our time in rehearsal. This technology is being used by bands across the nation, both at the competitive and collegiate levels. We are so pleased to say that District 99 will be covering the $10 subscription fee, so our band families will not need to pay for this out of pocket. More specific information about fees may be found in an email recently sent to all band families.
Speaking of marching band uniforms....
Did you forget to sign up for the required August 17th marching band uniform fitting?? If so, please check out THIS BLOG POST to learn how to sign up for a time slot!
http://dgnbands.blogspot.com/2019/06/sign-up-for-required-uniform-fitting_13.html
We cannot wait to get this year started, and we look forward to working with your family this year! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Smith or Mr. Teague.
Marching Band Newcomers and "Big Sisters/Brothers"
New students to our Marching Band are assigned a "Big Sister/Brother" to offer peer-support during the start-up of the school year and offer help adjusting to the lifestyle of high school. The older "siblings" are members of our Trojan Marching Band Student Leadership Team (Section Captains and Drum Majors). If you have a child who is new to our Trojan Marching Band this year, they have likely already received a phone call from their assigned older sibling. New members of the marching band should have also received a welcome letter at home from their Section Captain.
Marching Band Newcomer Party - Saturday, August 3
Our student leaders are hosting a welcome party for our new Trojan Marching Band members, this Saturday evening, at the home of Drum Major Carissa Blumka. This annual gathering is a fun way for new Marching Band students to meet one another, and their student leaders, prior to the start of Band Camp on Monday, August 5. Attendance is not required, but strongly encouraged! This is a great way to break the ice and ask some questions before we hit the ground running at Band Camp. The gathering at Carissa's home will be supervised by parent chaperones, and not attended by DGN staff. We extend our thanks to the Blumka family for opening their home to host this year's party!
Date: Saturday, August 3
Time: 4 - 8 PM
Address: (see email)
Band Camp WikiHow
Mr. Smith has put together a document about our Band Camp, with suggestions to help students have a successful camp experience! We strongly encourage all Marching Band students to read the "WikiHow" this week, in preparation for Band Camp beginning on August 5. This resource can answer a lot of questions, and help everyone prepare to be successful during the entire week!
https://tinyurl.com/BandCampWiki
Trojan Marching Band Group Lunch
Next Monday is our first day of Band Camp 2019. The morning session (8:00 AM - 12:00 PM) is only for our NEW students, and our Student Leaders. However, when the morning session ends, we would like ALL of our Trojan Marching Band Members to eat together during the lunch break, therefore, we are expecting ALL members to report to the school at 12:00 PM for our group lunch. This year, we are so thankful to have had our lunch donated by the Friends of Fine Arts! All students will be provided a lunch, and this will be a great opportunity to come together as a Band Family and break bread together before we jump into the activities for the week.
Band Fees Update
Some families may remember in the April Kick-Off Mailing that there was a new item included on the band fees. This was to accommodate the purchase of a drill learning app, called Ultimate Drill Book, to facilitate student learning and more effectively spend our time in rehearsal. This technology is being used by bands across the nation, both at the competitive and collegiate levels. We are so pleased to say that District 99 will be covering the $10 subscription fee, so our band families will not need to pay for this out of pocket. More specific information about fees may be found in an email recently sent to all band families.
Speaking of marching band uniforms....
Did you forget to sign up for the required August 17th marching band uniform fitting?? If so, please check out THIS BLOG POST to learn how to sign up for a time slot!
http://dgnbands.blogspot.com/2019/06/sign-up-for-required-uniform-fitting_13.html
We cannot wait to get this year started, and we look forward to working with your family this year! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Smith or Mr. Teague.
