CHS Choir Update #38
A Weekly Update from the CHS Choral Department
Greetings CHS Choir Family!
We've made it, gang! The final week of school for the 2019-2020 school year. While we are not wrapping up this year as any of us hoped or imagined, it has been a year of tremendous growth, and musical excellence. Through all of the smiles and trials this year has brought (and there have been many of each) you have taught me that there is no greater community than one united around the common goal of spreading joy and beauty in our world.
No matter how practiced or how novice you you consider yourself to be, each of you have contributed meaningfully to your classes and choirs this year. While you may have been challenged to move beyond yourself, your nerves, and/or your fears, you have experienced and created beauty that enriched the lives of those around you. It is my prayer that each of you will whole-heartedly embrace this fact and move forward, confident in the knowledge that you have the ability to do good in this world. You are an incredible group of young people who have a great deal to offer.
This has been an incredible year for The Choirs of Centennial. I cannot wait to see what next year holds for us. If this year is any indication, it is going to be incredible!
Many thank to all of the parents, friends, community sponsors, and booster club members who have supported and cheered us on throughout the year. We are grateful for the gifts of your time, talents, and the words of encouragement shared with us throughout they year. We could not have done it without you.
With love and admiration,
Mr. Cooley
THE CHOIR BOOSTER CLUB NEEDS YOU!
While this year has been full of tremendous successes and wonderful memories, we are excited to begin the process of planning for next year.
The CHS Choir Booster Club is currently looking to recruit both parents and family members to serve in a variety of capacities on next year's board. Parents who serve on the booster club board (as an officer or as a team leader) play an active role in the life of our department and provide critical support for our student's throughout the year.
Membership on the board is open to any parent or guardian of students enrolled in the CHS Choir Program for the 2020-2021 school year. Key positions that will need to be filled include our Vice President, Treasurer, & Associate Treasurer. More information about these positions and other ways you can play an active role in the development of opportunities for our young people will be shared with you in a separate publication later this week.
Already know you would like to serve? Email your interest to Aaron Summers, our current VP, at vp@chschoirboosters.org and we will be in touch shortly. We look forward to partnering with you to make 2020-2021 our best year ever.
Uniform Collection Update
Google Classroom Assignments
Please make sure that assignments for Week 5 & 6 are completed ASAP. I am currently in the process of updating grades for the current grading period and would like to make sure that everything is updated prior to 8:00 AM tomorrow.
Any student still owing assignments for the current grading period are asked to contact Mr. Cooley immediately to develop a plan to ensure that you receive credit for your work. Questions about what is owed or your current academic standing in Choir and/or your other courses? Send me an email and I will do my best to help you.
Student Leadership Update
Now that placement auditions and interviews for next year's student and musical leadership teams have been completed, we are now able to prepare and extend job offers to our students. Offers will be made via email beginning tonight/tomorrow morning. The official announcement of next year's choir council members will be made once all offers to serve have been extended and accepted. Section Leaders will be named separately, at a later date.
In Advance of Choir Roster Posting
The review of audition results and the creation of choirs is one of the most challenging tasks I face as a director and caretaker of students. This year's auditions for our Varsity Treble Choir, Chamber Singers, and Shades of Blue were some of the most prepared and coherently executed auditions to date. Even with the challenges presented to you during this time, all of the students that chose to throw their hat in the ring, did so with professionalism and grace. This is not a process that I take lightly. I work diligently to ensure that the process is fair, objective, and focused on the creation of the best possible community for each of our members.
As your teacher, part of my job is to teach you how to handle good news with grace and handle less desirable news with dignity; how to ask for feedback in a constructive, professional way and how to make informed and rational choices based on the information. It is in this spirit that the following procedures are set in place regarding inquiries about these results:
Students – for those of you who have achieved the outcomes you desire, congratulations. For those whose result was not what was hoped for, please know that every consideration was afforded to this process in order to make the best choice for each student’s individual and corporate growth. No one can decide for you what to do next if you did not achieve your desires, however, I do hope that whatever you decide, you do so after having carefully considered what choir has meant to you and what you might accomplish as a member of your new ensemble.
Parents – while I understand your eagerness to act on behalf of your student and while I will certainly respond to your requests for information, I respectfully ask that you allow your student to initiate contact with me regarding audition results. This process was shared with your student during the audition workshop to help them develop an understanding of the process involved with the review of audition results and the creation of choirs in the CHS Choral Department.
Students with questions about their audition may contact the choir office via email, no sooner than 24 hours after rosters post. The reason for this period of time between posting and requests for more information is to allow each student the time carefully consider what it is they desire to know about their audition/placement before they make their inquiry. Requests for additional information should be made via email requests so that I may provide you with detailed information in writing to each student regarding their performance. I have triple checked this list for accuracy; however, no system is perfect. If you do not see your name on any list, please accept my sincerest apologies and bring this to my attention for immediate correction.
Thank you for your support and understanding as we work to best serve all of our students through this process. I could not be more proud of the energy and enthusiasm each of you brought to this year's audition process.
Thank you to everyone who was able to come to this year's "Virtual Banquet." While nothing digital can truly replace breaking bread together, it was wonderful to get to see so many of you tuning in to celebrate one another.
Below you will find links for the Student Awards Video, the Senior Tribute, and the End of Year Slide Show. A recording of our banquet will be posted more securely in Google Classroom later tonight.
Certificates for awards will be mailed to you electronically. Patches and medallions will be sent via US mail later this week. Seniors, your awards, medallions, and graduation gifts from the Booster Club will be delivered later this week.
Unpaid Fees, Fines, & Balances Due
We have a number of students that still have outstanding fees remaining to be paid for the current school year. These fees include activity fees, show choir fees, solo contest fees, trip fees, and a few outstanding fundraiser payments. It is imperative that all students work to clear these balances as soon as possible so that the Booster Club may continue to serve our students and programs to the best of their ability.
All students are strongly encouraged to log into their CutTime accounts and review their financial statements. Students with balances should make every effort to clear these balances within the next seven days. Having issues accessing your account or have questions about your account balance? Please contact Mrs. Harrison (treasurer@chschoirboosters.org), our booster club treasurer, for assistance ASAP.
Electronic statements will be mailed to your BISD email accounts later this week.
Preparing, Planning, and Looking Ahead...
Traditionally, our end of school newsletter includes dates and important information about events that typically take place prior to the start of the coming year. While we have every faith that we will be back together again this fall, we not in possession of enough information to feel good about locking in dates at this time.
With this in mind, we ask that you keep an eye on your email/social media, our Choir webpage, and our google calendar throughout the summer so that you are prepared to kick off the school year. Be on the look out for updates related to:
Student Leadership Day (August)
Required of Choir Council and Musical Leadership Team Members
Typically takes place before school starts.
Show Choir Boot Camp (August)
Required of all Shades of Blue cast members.
Typically takes place before school starts; Tentative back up dates of August 21 & 22.
Choir Prep Day (August)
Annual registration and uniform fitting event.
This event typically takes place before school starts; Tentative back up date of August 29.
All-State Boot Camp (August)
This event typically takes place before school starts; Tentative Dates of August 5 & 6.
We look forward to partnering with each of you in the coming months to plan and prepare for another incredible year of music making. Stay tuned for more details.
About Us
- Public Announcements - @20670
- Choraliers - @cfk7a
- Cantare - @cantaretc
- Chamber Singers - @20672
- Shades of Blue - @ef34
- Spring Trip - @centtrips
Email: ecooley@bisdmail.net
Website: www.centennialhschoir.com
Location: 201 S Hurst Rd, Burleson, TX, United States
Phone: 817-245-0370
Facebook: facebook.com/centennialhschoir
Twitter: @centennialsings