With our final competition coming up this weekend, we are approaching the tail end of our marching season. That being said, make sure your calendar is up to date with all upcoming events!
It's Festival week! Our first competition is our kids' first opportunity to showcase their hard work and recieve feedback from professionals who judges based on several factors relating to music and visual categories. Here is our schedule for Saturday, so be sure to plan appropriately! Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document. We are at the beginning of September ALREADY! Here are dates for the rest of this month to keep in your calendar!
September 13th
Band camp is JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!! Please be preparing by spending time outside, adjusting to the heat as well as exercising, hydrating, and practicing music!
That being said, here are upcoming dates for you to keep in mind for your musicians: July
*August booster/parent meeting to be decided at the July 18th Booster/Parent meeting After the first day of June Camp, students went home with the following letter: June 4, 2024 Band Parent/Guardian, First, a big thank you! We could not be successful without your influence. Getting your musicians to rehearsals, reminding them to practice at home, and donating your time and energy is what helps the Dade County Band Program reach its full potential. So, thank you for all you do! On Monday, June 17th…We will be having a Band Booster and Parent meeting to vote on and review finances for the future. The band has an opportunity to move finances to the school. The upsides of this include:
We hope to see you on the 17th to get your input on this matter! Sincerely, Mr. Browder Director of Bands, Dade County This meeting will take place at 6:00pm at the DCHS band room.
With the school year coming to a close, it's just about time to get the 2024 Marching Season rolling! That being said, are some dates for the month of June to add to your personal calendar and/or to hang on the fridge!
Mark your calendars for May 9th! The 2024 Dade County band banquet is nearly here! This will be a night dedicated to honoring the dedication and talent of our incredible, young musicians! We're so excited and can't wait to see you there!
Parents: We do need volunteers to help out with bringing finger foods, setting up, and cleaning up after the banquet. This evening is for and about the students, so lets make sure they have the night off when it comes to set up and clean up. If you are willing and able to do so, please click the button below! We appreciate all you do for the Dade County Band Program! We're almost to May! Which means two things: 1) we are finishing out our school year concerts and events, and 2) we are gearing up towards the marching season! Here are some dates for the month of May to add to your calendar!
As the excitement for the upcoming marching season builds, it's essential to make sure our students are ready to hit the field in peak condition.
One crucial step in this preparation is ensuring they have their physical examinations completed. We're thrilled to announce that Dr. Stephanie Lawson will be visiting DCHS to conduct student physicals for the 2024-25 school/athletic season. These physicals are mandatory for all student athletes, including our dedicated marching band members. Why are Physicals Important? Physical examinations play a vital role in safeguarding our students' health and well-being as they engage in physical activities like marching band. They help identify any underlying health issues that could impact their ability to perform safely and effectively. Important Details: Dates: Dr. Lawson will be available on May 3rd and May 15th at DCHS Gym. Time: The physicals will take place from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM on both days. Cost: Each physical examination costs $18. Payment can be made in cash or by check. Validity: It's crucial to remember that the physical examination is only valid for one year from the completion date. Ensuring your child's physical is up to date is essential for their continued participation in the marching band. We understand that scheduling appointments and keeping up with paperwork can sometimes feel overwhelming. However, the health and safety of our students are our top priorities. We encourage all parents to take advantage of this convenient opportunity provided by Dr. Lawson. By ensuring our students have their physical examinations completed promptly, we're setting them up for a successful and healthy marching season. Note: If you would rather use your own doctor, you are more than welcome to do so, but the form must be turned into the office! All physicals must be done by May 31st. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and let's make this marching season one to remember! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to Mr. Browder at [email protected]. We are officially in the home-stretch of the school year! That being said, we still have things on the calendar. Here are the things to look forward to until the end of April:
As usual we thank you for your support! Reach out with any questions! Garbage bags will arrive tomorrow! Pickup will begin on Wednesday within the following timeframe:
Wednesday, from 3:30pm to 6:00pm Thursday, from 3:30pm to 5:30pm Friday, from 3:30pm to 5:00pm Please be advised that Friday marks the final opportunity for pickup before the commencement of spring break. We highly encourage all community members to ensure their bags are collected by the conclusion of Friday. Thank you so much for your incredible support! #TeamDadeGA Important reminder: The 2nd and Final Dollywood Payment is due tomorrow Thursday, March 21st! Due to testing please turn money in to the office. Remind Codes:
6th Grade Band - @cggecdc 7th Grade Band - @h3h4bf 8th Grade Band - @b982d2 DCHS Band - @a2fhaa DC Marching Band - @9cefga The following includes all upcoming important dates for the Middle and High School programs. If you haven’t already, be sure to join your/your student’s Remind class by texting that class’s code to 81010. You can also check this Facebook page, the calendar on this website, as well as this blog for dates and other reminders.
If there are any changes made to these dates, they will be made public as soon as possible. The most recent changes will be reflected on the website by the end of the day Monday. Man, is there a lot happening in the band right up to Spring Break! Please, please keep an eye on the calendar at dcband.org to stay up to date. On March 21 at 6pm there will be a DMS Band meeting in the DMS Band room. We would love to have everyone that can come. We will discuss the future events, the Dollywood Trip, Marching Band, instruments, volunteer opportunities, and any questions parents have. We will move quickly so it won't take long. We hope to see you there! The DMS Bands will be traveling to Dade Elementary on March 28 to perform. This is a great opportunity for the elementary students to hear the band and help them decide if they would like to participate in band in middle school. This trip is during the school day. The DMS Bands Spring Concert is March 28th at 7pm at the DCHS auditorium. Students should report by 6:30(report means in seat, instrument ready) in concert black. All concerts are free and we hope to see everyone there! On March 29th, the 7th and 8th grade bands will be traveling to Ringgold High School to participate in the Concert Festival. A permission slip is going home On Thursday, March 9 with more details. It is also linked below. The students need to come to school dressed in their concert black. There will not be time to change prior to leaving. They will return before school releases. On March 31st, the DMS Bands will travel to Davis to perform just like the DES performance. And then......SPRING BREAK!!! Whew! The best thing a performing ensemble can do is perform and we are so excited for them to be able to share their hard work and talent with everyone in the coming weeks.
Man has it been a busy time for our bands! The DCHS band participated in Concert Camp on Tuesday and the 7th and 8th grade bands participated on Wednesday. These are all day events that include getting to have sectionals to work on better instrument technique followed by being directed by a guest conductor. You know that old bit about telling someone something a million times and then someone else walks up, says the same thing, and suddenly everyone gets it? It's a real thing and all of us need to hear the same thing in different ways for it to sink in. Guest instructors not only do this, but teach so much more. We learn as much as the students! In the end, loads of pizza and cookies were eaten, new information was learned, and amazing progress by the ensembles happened. It was a great time! From here, the bands will continue to work on the same music to make it even better to go perform at Concert Festival in March. A letter and blog update will be coming out in a couple weeks about this event. Don't forget to keep up with the calendar on dcband.org to see concert dates and more. The 6th grade band has begun learning a new scale. That's #2 in the books. The goal is 12 total major scales, one for each note. The better students know their scales, the better a performer they become. Please encourage them to practice their scales. But don't stop there! There are so many free resources on the internet! So here are just a few to help students want to practice. Why is that so important? You only get better and better the more you practice! Every DMS student has a book (Essential Elements or Measures of Success). These come with free resources to play along, listen to tracks, correct missed notes/rhythms, and more! The almighty Google Search! Type in the name of your instrument and the song you are looking for. Chances are you will find it and for free. Musescore.com has 1,000's of songs! The band has an account and can print a part for you, just let us know. Flutetunes.com all free flute resources! Check out the links listed on the website as well. Find a new, great site? Share away and we will share with everyone! This weekend was the GMEA District 7 Honor band. The Dade County Bands had three students participate: Jax Higdon (DMS), Makaela Chance and Landon Ramirez (DCHS). We are super proud of their hard work to represent Dade as some of the best musicians in our District! The annual DMS Band and Chorus Dollywood trip letter has gone home! It is also at the bottom of this blog. Please send these back by next Tuesday, Feb. 21 with a deposit. In order to have our group reserved and get tickets on time, we have to have this sent in early, this is why the payments are scheduled for February and March and the trip is not until May. The Dade County School Systems bus policy states that only students and staff may ride buses. Only band and chorus students and school staff will be allowed on the buses. We have very limited room on the buses and encourage families to travel together to meet us at Dollywood. There will be a Remind for this trip. We will post the code asap for everyone to join. We are super excited to celebrate the bands hard work with a big fun day!
There was a misprint on the letter handed out to the students. The report times for the concert and concert start time were wrong. They have been corrected on the version below. Sorry for the confusion!
Student's can find practice recordings for the Foundations and Young Ensemble Warm-ups here:
6th Grade - https://youtu.be/zxdxmbHdy_U 7th Grade - https://youtu.be/25bpu5mYp2Y 8th Grade/DCHS - https://youtu.be/C3TWtfittl0 7th/8th Grade - Gettysburg Address recording - https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&productID=10364216&type=audio DCHS Students can find practice recordings in Google Classroom. |