Month: November 2015

Upcoming Concert Reminders

Dear all,

I hope that this break has been as restful for you as it has been for me! Nothing beats spending time with those that you love.

Here are some reminders about our upcoming concert on Monday, December the 14th.

The concert begins at 7pm. Your students must arrive in uniform with their instrument at 6:30 to the stage. We will be seating your students and getting last minute details worked out. Please do not show up late. Students who are not in full uniform will not be allowed to perform.
Full uniform includes: black pants/dress, black socks and dress shoes (closed toed shoes for females), and your black performance polo. EDIT: Black dress was meant to say long black skirt. That way the band polo can be worn as the top half of the outfit. I apologize for the lack of clarity there.
The band polos are set to be in on the first of December. Your students will be allowed to take them home.
I HIGHLY recommend that you take your student shopping NOW to make sure that they have their appropriate performance attire. Many students wait until the days before and “have no dress pants that fit me”. We want for the students to learn to be proactive and responsible so hopefully after Monday I will have them annoying you about taking them shopping. You’re welcome for that by the way 🙂
It is a formal concert that will last about one hour. Not only do we expect for you and your students to stay for the entire concert but we encourage it so that both you and your student can support the other grade levels and have something to aspire to. It is one of our two after school concerts and we ask that you enjoy the whole thing! Attending the concert is a grade for your student!! Do not forget that.

The chocolate candy fundraiser was a success and I appreciate all of your hard work with that. I do not have a date where they will be delivered to the school but you will know that as soon as I do.

The jackets have been ordered and are being worked on. You will know about that date when I do as well.

Your students have a practice log that is due on Monday for the past TWO weeks. Please encourage them to get their horns out today and tomorrow and play out of their book. They can play old lines or even learn new lines! Either way it will get them into shape as we head towards our first concert!!

Contact me with any questions that you have.

-M. Menendez

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Chocolate Candy Due Wednesday 18th

1.) Chocolate candy orders are due tomorrow, November the 18th in class. We expect to get the chocolate back once we return from Thanksgiving break.

2.) If your student is interested in purchasing a band jacket those are due this Friday November the 20th. I am so excited to see our students showing off how proud they are of their program. They work extremely hard! These make great presents for holidays.

*CHECKS MUST BE MADE OUT TO OZIER APPAREL* not CMS band

3.) The band polos have been ordered and are expected to come in on the 1st of December. Per each box of cookie dough that your student sold, they take $3 off of their band polo purchase. If your student sold 7 boxes then they get their $21 band polo for free. I will let each student know how much they owe tomorrow during class but if you have this total already then you may turn your money in.

Thank you!

-M. Menendez

Date clarifications

Good afternoon,

Here are some clarifications:

1.) Chocolate candy orders are due in November the 18th in class. We expect to get the chocolate back once we return from Thanksgiving break.

2.) Our jacket sale is NOT a fundraiser. It is only for students who would like to purchase some spirit wear. These make a GREAT present for birthdays and holidays 😉 These are due November the 20th. *CHECKS MUST BE MADE OUT TO OZIER APPAREL* not CMS band

3.) Your students will be sized for their band performance polos tomorrow during class. Once we size then we will place an order and get them in before our Christmas concert on December the 14th.

I will send info home about how much your student owes for their band performance polo after they have been sized. Cash or checks made out to cmsband will be accepted

Thank you!

-M. Menendez

Chocolate Candy Fundraiser

Good morning,

We began our chocolate fundraiser yesterday during class. I am excited to sell chocolate around the holiday season because I feel that it will sell easily. A few reminders:

1.) Make sure that their first and last name are written on their order taker sheet.

2.) Hold on to all money and checks at home until our turn-in date on November the 18th.

3.) Make all checks out to CMS Band and please write the student name in the check in case we run into any problems when collecting money.

4.) If the student sells 10 boxes they are allowed to pick one box for free out of the cheapest category. We want to reward and encourage the students to sell.

5.) Ask your students to outreach into the community and remind them that “if you never ask, the answer will always be no”.

These fundraisers are what keep our program alive. They allow for me to purchase new music, percussion equipment, pay for staff that specialize in specific instruments, and purchase general equipment for the band. I know as a past student how aggravating doing multiple fundraisers can be but I encourage the students to push hard in order for our band to benefit as a whole. What they fundraise will go directly back to them.

Band polo and potential jacket orders:

Our band polo samples will be in soon so that I can size the students during class. They are $21 total and are part of our uniform for all CMS and CJHS band concerts. Your students will use these for the next three years. If you participated in our cookie dough fundraiser then you perhaps have already paid off your band polo. Each kid will receive a letter home stating how much they owe for their band performance polo.

Ozier Apparel creates fantastic jackets for us each year that not only include our custom logo, but for an extra charge can include the first and last name of your student and their instrument. Ozier Apparel has brought in a sample set for me to put on display for the class and order form takers to send home. These jackets are so cool that I am considering buying two different ones this year for myself! I am handing out a paper in class today that has the order form on it and pictures of the products. I recommend buying a little big so that these can last through Junior High and on (especially boys).

Our Christmas/Holiday Concert is on Monday, December the 14th at 7 pm. Your child will report at 6:30 to the Mabry Arts Center in their full uniform. The full uniform includes:

band performance polo
black dress pants or long black skirt (no skin visible on the legs please)
black dress shoes with black socks for boys
black shoes for ladies. No open toed shoes.

If your student is out of uniform on the concert day they will not perform with us. I would set out their uniform the week of somewhere so that it is ready to go!

We we aim to teach the students the importance of being professional on the concert days. Whether it is how they dress, how they perform , or even how they carry themselves, we aim to make sure that they represent our program and themselves to the highest level possible.

Performing is the reason why your student joined my class and we expect 100% attendance for the concert. Any questions regarding schedule conflicts need to be resolved now so that your student does not receive a failing grade for a concert. I want for them to show off all of the hard work that they have been doing in class and at home for you. It’s their first concert! Nothing is more exciting than that.

Enjoy a picture from our after school practice session from this Monday!

Gosh these kids are great.

maria.menendez@carrolltoncityschools.net

Contact me at any time or leave a comment on this post and I will answer it right away.

-M. Menendez

Monday Reminders

Good morning,

Busy week ahead of us folks!

Today we will have our second after school practice session. These are not mandatory but are a great opportunity for those who would like some tutoring from me to get it. Students meet in the band room after school and need to be picked up at 4:15 at the bus loop.
Our practice logs are checked today for the first two weeks during class. Your students will receive a grade for this.
The test grades have been posted on PowerSchool and your students will receive their test scores in class as well. They each have a paper with an outline on what they were graded on. I tried my best to add personal advice and compliments to each paper while your student was testing. It was difficult with about 120 tests to listen to but I did my best. Students who are not satisfied with their grade may retest at any after school practice session or may contact me individually about setting up a time to retest.
We begin talking about our November fundraiser this week and also our band performance polos and spirit wear. Info will be out to you soon on that!

Here we go!

-MM