DMS BAND Weekly Newsletter!
WEEK 12 : October 24-28
- DMS Band: Week At A Glance
- Halloween Dance on 10/27- Band is hosting! SIGN UP to HELP!
- Student Teacher: Mr. Kirk, Welcome!
- Bed Sheets are in!
- COFFEE AND COCOA Fundraiser
- Rehearsal Techniques and Rehearsal Detective Policy
- Beginner Bands Info (Holiday Concert Dates, Note Name Speed Test Info)
- Concert & Symphonic Bands Info (Holiday Concert Dates, Honor Bands/All State, Orlando Trip Update)
- DMS CALENDAR PDF - subject to change as events are added
- 8th grade only - additional info
- WEEKLY AGENDAS
This Week: At A Glance!
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday - Halloween Dance: 6-8pm in Gym!
Friday
A procedure reminder:
PLEASE TALK TO YOUR STUDENTS ABOUT THIS! Students are NOT allowed to carry their instruments class to class.
Here are band's daily operating procedures with regard to instruments:
- Students can only bring their instruments to the band room once the 8:05 bell rings.
- They have until 8:15 to drop their instruments off before the tardy bell!
- Students are not allowed to leave their last block class to come to the band room early - UNLESS they're in the STEM building for their last block class. Please remind students to think through their week and ask his/her teacher if they can leave early. We currently have TOO MANY students leaving early from last block when they don't need to.
DMS HALLOWEEN DANCE!
THIS Thursday - 10/27/22
This halloween dance is school-wide and for any grade.
(This is not a band event in the sense that there won't be a band performance of any kind, we are just hosting as a fundraiser).
There will be a DJ, concessions, ticket sales, etc.
The dance will be at DMS Gym on Thursday 10/27 from 6-8pm.
We need help with the following (outlined in sign up geinus below):
- Ticket sales at lunchtime during THIS WEEK!
- Ticket sales at the dance/at the door
- Concession Stand workers at the dance
- DONATIONS for the concession stand! We need drinks, candy, chips, treats!
- Supervision help at the dance! Mrs. Rhoades, Mrs. Merritt, an administrator and an SRO will all be present, but we like to have a parent at each door so these staff members can roam.
SIGN UP TO HELP!
Check out the sign up genius below! We could use ALL the help we can get to make this dance happen for the entire school! PLEASE help us out.
Thank you so much!
If you do sign up to bring goods - let's make it our goal to have them up to the front office of DMS on Wednesday 10/26. We will collect items there. DMS front office hours are 7:45 until 3:30.
Donate your TIME selling tickets or Concessions, or donate food/drink for concessions!
Student Teacher: Please welcome Mr. Andrew Kirk!
A letter was sent home from Mr. Kirk this week:
Oct. 17, 2022
Dear Discovery Middle School Band parents/guardians,
My name is Andrew Kirk. I am a student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville studying music education. Beginning October 17, 2022 through December 2022, I have the honor of completing my internship at Discovery Middle School under the direction of Mrs. Merritt and Mrs. Rhoades. I will be observing, participating, assisting and teaching in the classroom with your child(ren).
Please allow me to tell you a little about myself. I graduated from East Limestone High School in 2004. From there, I went to the University of North Alabama where I marched in the marching band and also performed in the wind ensemble and percussion ensemble. I got married in 2008 and now have two children. I had the opportunity to return to school to finish my music education degree in 2019. I am very excited about the opportunity to teach your children this semester and look forward to a great experience at Discovery with your children!
Thank you for your time,
Andrew Kirk
Bedsheets are IN!
BED SHEET PICK UP:
Please come by the band room after school until 4:30pm on WEDNESDAY, October 26th. You can also have students grab it and bring it home (if its just a couple of bed sheets, they can just carry a box on the bus, perhaps).
If you have questions - please let us know.
You're also welcome to take them home after the dance if you are chaperoning or helping with concessions.
Thanks!!
Coffee and Cocoa Fundraiser!
Rehearsal Techniques and Rehearsal Detective Policy
Rehearsal Techniques Grades
Each day, students are required to have their binder, Tradition of Excellence book, instrument, planner, and a pencil at their seat! All students are expected to sit with proper posture, hand position, and technique and participate fully in each class. Each day is worth 5 points and the students will lose points if one or more of the criterion above is not met. If your student is missing points, please see comments in Powerschool for an explanation!
Rehearsal Detective Grades
They must fill out a Rehearsal Detective worksheet that counts for their daily 5 points. If the student fails to use DMS Ties (writing standards for the school), answer questions in the worksheet, or is disruptive during class, they risk losing points for that day.
The Directors check and input these assignments into a spreadsheet each Friday, tracking who is consistently missing their instruments AND the effort they put into band class.
Our program has had a HIGH number of forgotten instruments in the last several weeks.
Please make sure your student is remembering their instrument daily.
It is the standard expectation for students to have their instrument daily, and rehearsal techniques are an insufficient replacement for gaining valuable playing time daily!
Beginner Band
Holiday Concert
Note Name Speed-Tests
Tuners, Tuners Apps and Websites for Students
Apps (all require purchase but are worth it!):
- Tonal Energy Tuner
- Bandmate Chromatic Tuner (only available on Apple)
- Cleartune
Websites:
Tuners (Purchase a clip-on tuner pick-up and they can use it during class!):
- Korg CA-2, or TM-60 or CA-50 Tuner
Please remember to sign up to help us host the school halloween dance (info above)!
Thank you for helping us out!
This is a great way to start getting involved!!
Holiday Concert
All State Band and All District Band
All State Band is an auditioned group that makes up the best of the best students in the state of Alabama! It will meet at VBC in Huntsville on April 27th-29th, 2023. This school absence will be excused.
All District Band is an auditioned group that makes up the best of the best students in our district - District 1. It will meet at Grissom High School on February 17th and 18th, 2023. Students will not have to miss school on that Friday, but can be excused for the last block of the day if preparation time is needed for the family.
- Symphonic Band 1 students are expected to audition.
- Symphonic Band 2 students are HIGHLY encouraged to audition.
- Concert Band students are encouraged to audition as well.
- Extra time on the audition material in private lessons will be a huge help in preparation for these auditions!
Auditions for All State will give your student the opportunity to qualify for All District as well! They are the same audition. Results will come out for each group following the audition on January 28th.
MS HONOR BAND OPPORTUNITIES
WHAT is an Honor Band??
Students can apply or be nominated for honor band festival weekends which, much like the All State honor band in April, celebrates the accomplishments of hard working middle school band students.
The students meet, audition for placement (chairs, parts) and then rehearse for two days or so. At the end of those two days, the students put on a high quality concert performance with a group of people and a conductor they just met! It's a great learning experience. The students experience new music, make new friends with similar interests and work under a well-know (sometimes famous) composer, conductor or band director!
Sometimes these events are very selective and students will not be accepted, but often times the more events you do, the more likely you are to be accepted to others!
The concerts are unparalleled! Please try to attend.
ALL lodging, costs associated with the event are up to the families. The directors sometimes help register students, but parents must attend the events with their kiddos.
Thanks!!
Middle School Honor Bands:
Directors must nominate - email us if you want us to nominate you! info@dmsbands.org
Deadline for nominations: 10/24
Honor Band Dates: 12/8-12/10
The University of Alabama (UA) - Tuscaloosa, AL
Applications online - Deadline for applications: 11/7
Honor Band Dates: 12/8-12/9
Auburn University - Auburn, AL
Applications online - Deadline for applications: 11/20
Honor Band Dates: 2/2-2/4
In addition to the finale concert at the end of the festival, students will hear performances by the AU Concert and Jazz Bands.
NOTE: The same clinician will be offered at both UA and AU honor bands - Mr. William Owens - a very well known and knowledgable band composer.
Absences for these events (pending acceptance to these events) will be excused absences from DMS.
Note: Students can't participate in both UA and UAB events as the dates conflict, unfortunately.
DMS Holiday Concert: 12/5 for Con/Sym classes
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION - 11/7/22
Honor Band Dates: 12/8-12/10
DMS ORLANDO TRIP - UPDATES
This email was sent out on Wednesday 10/19:
Parents and Students,
If you and/or your child are interested in attending our spring trip with us to Orlando, FL in April, please see the information below and read carefully! If you need general trip information from our preliminary interest meeting, click here.
We have attached a PDF with instructions, a link and information on how to register/make payments to our travel company: Kaleidoscope Adventures. The site is called “WeTravel” and is very user friendly. Please read the attachment and follow directions carefully.
The Deadline for Online Registration is Thursday, October 27th @ 6:00 PM EST.
Some notes:
- Travel protection is an optional extra charge.
- Do not send in payments to DMS as cash or check - all payments go through this online payment portal called “WeTravel.”
- You can set up a ‘contribution page’ where you can share your trip on email/social media and accept contributions from friends and family. We will get information about this to you ASAP. I am looking into this feature today.
- Do NOT register as a “staff” member.
- Please register by default all students as a “Quint Room” package because students will be in groups of 5. Contact directors with questions about this setup.
- If you would like to help us chaperone this trip, please register based on how many people you want to room with. If you register for a double package, you will have two people in the room (one roommate other than yourself), etc.
- Parents who we have asked to be nurses, equipment drivers etc for our trip will be contacted with a specific comp trip package code. If you don’t receive this - you will need to register/pay.
- Fundraiser credits will be applied to trip payments by 12/9/22 or so. If your trip is paid in full, any fundraiser profits will not be applied toward your trip.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email your directors or the KA help email listed below.
Kaleidoscope Adventures has an amazing help team with great response time. They can often answer questions about payments and the travel portal that we cannot! Their help email is:
Thank you so much, we are all so excited about our trip! Thank you all so much for your patience and support for our amazing Discovery kids!
Musically,
Jenney Merritt, Band Director - info@dmsbands.org
Catherine Rhoades, Band Director - info@dmsbands.org
Marla Jenkins, Chorus Director - mcjenkins@madisoncity.k12.al.us
This email has been sent via Charms Office Assistant on behalf of:
Discovery Middle School Band
1304 Hughes Road
Madison, AL 35758
Agendas for each class. Please scroll and make sure you are looking at the correct class agenda!
October Calendar!
CHARMS Login
Band Wishlist!
DMS Band Website
Discovery Middle School Bands
Email: info@dmsbands.org
Website: www.dmsbands.org
Location: 1304 Hughes Road, Madison, AL, USA
Phone: 256-837-3735
Facebook: facebook.com/DMSBAND