Highland Band Boosters

November 2017 Newsletter November is the time to be thankful!  The Boosters would like to send out a bunch of THANK YOUS to everyone!  Your help with the craft show this year helped to make it one of the best in years!  We had so many people tell us how well it was run and how helpful everyone was.  That all would have been impossible without the generous donations of basket raffles, bake sale donations, soda donations and most importantly your time! We had 71 booths filled with 70 crafters!  The crowd was so large on Saturday we had many of our crafters & vendors tell us that they had record sales on that one day!  We also ran out of taco meat on Saturday!  Both on Saturday and Sunday we had a parent run to the store to pick up popcorn supplies and a few other things needed for concessions!  Everyone we spoke with had nothing but praise for how the show was run, the help that was given by all the kids and how nice everyone they worked with for this show was!  Kudos to eve

  October 2017 Newsletter Welcome to October!  What an exciting time our kids have had so far!  Our Marching Trojan Pride has had a wonderful season! Their last marching performance is this Friday at the football game. If you've not had a chance to see this year's show Oceana, come on out and support our marchers.  The concert bands are busy getting ready for our first concert! Fall Concert Our fall concert is next week already!  October 19th at 6:30pm!  The children should report at 6 to the band room for warm-ups.  The band kids have been spending the last few weeks preparing to show off the skills they've learned so far this year.  We are still in need of a couple of 6th grade and High School Parents who can sit with the kids while Mr. Blocker is directing. This will help us ensure that the children are sitting where they should with proper attention to the band currently playing on stage.  If you can help out, please let Mr. Blocker know. Disney The day i

September 2017 Newsletter SmartMusic   As our students are getting their iPads, now is the time for renewing SmartMusic!  SmartMusic is $8 per student.  All 6-12th grade band students will use SmartMusic on their iPads for assessment both in class and at home for the 2017-2018 school year.  If your student is in 6th grade and paid their summer camp and book fees before August, SmartMusic was already included.  Everyone else can send in $8 cash or check (payable to Highland Band Boosters) with their student to be given to Mr. Blocker.   Concert Our first concert is fast approaching, October 19th!  The band kids look forward to showing you everything they have learned so far!  We are asking for 2 parent volunteers from each grade to help with student control while Mr. Blocker is directing.  If you can help, please let Mr. Blocker or the Boosters know.   ALL Band Bowling Night   Mark your calendars!  On November 21st, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, we will have an ALL

Below is our itinerary for the week!  Please note, we have a home game on Friday that was not originally scheduled for home.  No after school practice on Friday, come prepared for the game at 5pm!    For the KV contest: We feed the kids bandwhiches, chips, fruit and dessert.  The boosters provide the bandwhiches, we need a couple families volunteer to bring individual servings of chips, fruit and dessert! Also, bottles of water are always needed for home games and contest days!  Please email the Boosters and let us know what you can bring!   Football Friday/KV HS Saturday Week 1 Itinerary   Tuesday : Sectionals Wednesday : Full Ensemble on Practice Field Thursday : NO REHEARSAL (as originally scheduled) Friday : Game (not on original schedule)  5pm call time - dressed in compression  - parent note - NO food in uniform, no beverages except water.  Students will have 3rd quarter to get their concessions NOT in their marching jacket.  Also - no phones at field.  Al

TWIB: Raffle Tickets & 2017 Marching Invitational Raffle Tickets: Raffle tickets will be sent home today and tomorrow with your band child.  All families are asked to try and sell 5 tickets.  Tickets are $5 each.  Prizes are $500, $250 and $100!  The winners will be drawn at our Marching Invitational on September 16th.  Please turn in any sold AND unsold tickets to Mr. Blocker by September 8th. Marching Invitational: Speaking of the Marching Invitational, the time for the invitational was changed from noon to 2pm.  What is the Marching Invitational?  We host 7 bands from around the area at our school to perform their marching show for judging.  It's a great time to see what marching band is all about!  Our very own 7th-12th graders will be performing the National Anthem at 1:45.  Please keep an eye out for more information on this.  We will need a lot of help with ensuring the invitational is a success. Football Game THIS Friday! Marchers!  Call time for the game is

  Our very own Marching Trojan Pride was featured in the Times this week! Have a look through the pictures at our kids! Click here to read the article!

August 2017 Newsletter Welcome to a new school year! The marching band has been practicing furiously for a few weeks, new faces are gracing the concert bands and we are looking forward to a fantastic school year! If this is your first newsletter, welcome!  These are done on a monthly basis after our monthly Booster Meeting. Who are the Band Boosters? If you have a child in band, you can join our Band Boosters for free!  We meet the second Monday of each month in the Band Room.  Please join us! Your Marching Trojan Pride! The marching band has been working on their show for this year, which we are proud to announce is titled "Oceana".  The show includes an audience participation near the end... a sing-a-long!  Come out and watch the band perform their very first show tonight at the football game! Also tonight is the annual tailgate before the game, from 5-7pm.  The Band Boosters will be shaking it up with some Lemon Shake-ups!  Come on out and support the band!

TWIB: School is almost here! Band Camp finishes up this week!  Great Job to everyone!   Method Books Needed for the School Year  HS: Habits of A Successful Musician (Some 10th-12th graders may still have this) 8th Grade: Habits of a Successful Middle School Musician (NEW) 7th Grade: Sound Innovations Book 2 (Red) 6th Grade: Sound Innovations Book 1 (Blue) - Standard Edition Helpful Tools for Band Students  All students should have a tuner and metronome on their personal digital device.  Mr. Blocker recommends: Tonal Energy - Tuner ($3.99) Tempo - by Frozen Ape (Free Version) Any Free Fingering Chart App - These are helpful for alternate fingers and trills. SmartMusic  SmartMusic has been updated and fixed for this year!  All Students will start with the $8 version.  If a student wants full access, there is an additional $20-$25.  Mr. Blocker will be sending home information about this.  At that time, you can send money, payable to Highland Band Boosters.  Please

Smack in the middle of the summer, the marching band performed in three parades over the 4th of July.  They did an awesome job!  In case you missed them, you can view the video on our Facebook Page . Everyone gets a few weeks off and then we spin up the Marching Trojan Pride Band Camp and Beginning Band on the 31st! Speaking of the calendar, we've added the calendar to the main blog.  You can add it to your own calendar using iCal or HTML . This gives us a bit of flexibility to add/update events and everyone's calendar is updated. The Band Booster Meeting this month was held at Gelsosomo's in Highland.  Thank you to everyone who attended.  What is a Band Booster?   Quite simply, a Band Booster is you, the band parents/friends/family.  You don the hat of cheerleader, fundraiser, water provider, seamstress, event planner, chaperones and/or pit crew. We play many roles to help support our bands.  We can't be successful without the help of you.  We meet every 2nd M

T W I B : July 1- 4th July 1 - Car Wash Fundraiser!! Car Wash at Elks on 45th in Highland 10am - 2pm Share with all your friends!! We need kids to come wash cars and a few grown-ups to help supervise! We are also in need of some towels to help dry cars.    Cross your fingers there is no rain! July 3 - Highland Parade Meet at HHS band room in SUMMER UNIFORM (band polo, like khaki/tan shorts, white shoes and socks, brown belts) by 5:30 pm.  We will walk down to Merkly (Erie & 42nd st corner) to stage for the parade.    Let family/friends know to sit NORTH of 42nd street in order to see the band!   After the parade, students will back to HHS.  If you want to pick up your child, parents can meet us at the corner of 5th and Highway (by OLG/Main Square).  Large instruments need to be brought back to HHS (percussion/tuba/baritone/tenor sax).   If you have a van/truck - we could use your help for the trip back to the school to carry instruments! July 4 - Griffith &am

Dirty Cars Needed!!   The Highland Bands will be hosting a Car Wash Fundraiser at Highland Elks Lodge - 3120 45th St on Saturday, July 1st from 10AM - 2PM.  The Elks will also be grilling lunch for everyone to grab a bite while their car gets a spot-free wash by the band kids! Help spread the word!  Share the Facebook Event!   https://www.facebook.com/events/126265651291655  

Cavilers Drumline   If your child is marching this season, please fill out the DCI Sign-up form .  What is DCI?  DCI is the Drum Corps International, known as the Marching Music's Major League.  You can read more about them at their website .  Attending DCI is mandatory for anyone marching.  The kids will get to see the pros do it and always leave excited for their own marching season! Family and Friends are encouraged to join. Kids will ride the bus and we may have some seats for adults but you may need to carpool and drive over if we run out of room.  Let Mr. Blocker know if you're willing to be an 'official' chaperone or if you'd like to ride the bus.  Money is due by Tuesday, June 20, 2017. There are two types of tickets : Premium Reserve Seating - $40/ticket General Admission - $25/ticket Event Date : Sunday June 25, 2017 Event Address : Ames Field Michigan City   Meet at HHS at 4:30PM (Bring money for concessions!)   This show is non

Summer is an exciting time for the Highland Bands!  The Marching Trojan Pride (MTP) begins their practices by working on music for the three 4th of July parades! After a bit of time off, the Marching Trojan Pride starts Band Camp, preparing for their contest season! Beginning Band will begin to learn their new instruments right before school starts! If you've ever wondered what the benefits of music are in your child's life, PBS put a great article on The Benefits of Music Education . The Band Calendar for the 2017-2018 School Year is now available online! Disney Mr. Blocker will hand out the packets for Disney participants next week during parade practice on Tuesday, June 20th.  We will have a notary in the band room for the medical forms on both June 27th and June 28th from 5-6pm in the High School Band Room, please bring your photo ID.  These papers need to be turned in by July 3rd.  A packet will be required for each person going to Disney, students, chaperones and

The Highland Band Boosters have created this platform to share information on the Highland Bands (Concert, Marching and Jazz). We will be putting up any announcements, monthly newsletters from the Boosters and "TWIB - This Week In Band" from Mr. Blocker.   Hopefully this will become a 'one stop shop' for announcements that we can get out to the band, students and parents alike!  Welcome, we look forward to exploring this with everyone.  As always, if you've got any feedback or questions, please let us know!