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Hello Band Families!

 

What a great 1st quarter!  Our 7th and 8th grade band ended the quarter in world class fashion with a great concert!  This quarter we'll be focusing a lot on tuning and good ensemble balance while we work on our Winter Concert music.  Our 6th graders are coming along nicely!  We’ll continue to chip away at the exercises in our method book.  There’s lots of new notes and concepts being covered there to help us with our concert material.  5th grade has had a fantastic 1st quarter as well.  We'll continue on in the method book, expanding or note repertoire and learning lots of other great stuff about our instruments.  One final note, we're kicking our fundraising efforts in to high gear this quarter with donut and otter pops sales each week with lots more to come!  Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering!

 

Musically,

Mr. Steve Kirchoff

Updated on 10/11/09

October

12- School resumes

12- 6:30 p.m.  Anthem Only Disneyland Parent Meeting in Anthem Cafeteria– 7th/8th grade students only

16- $50 good faith Disneyland deposit due– 7th/8th only

16- Anthem Only 7th/8th grade band to perform with FHS at homecoming football game

24- ASU Band Day– Sun Devil Stadium (not required, but fun!)

31- BOO!  Happy Halloween!

 

November

4- Early Release Day

11- No School Veteran’s Day

12– 6:30 p.m. Copper Basin Only Concert in the CB cafeteria  with Anthem 6th grade band

20- $50 Disneyland payment due– 7th/8th only

25 & 26– No School Thanksgiving Holiday

28- Junior Parada Parade– Downtown Florence (not required)

 

December

2- Early Release Day

8- 7:00 Anthem Only Concert in the Anthem Cafeteria– Beginning Bands and 7th/8th Grade Band (no choir this time!)

9, 10 and 11- Final Exams

12- Christmas Vacation!  See you on Monday Jan. 4th!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget!  Clarinet and Saxophone players need to have good reeds in order to be able to play! 

 

Every 5th-8th grade clarinet or saxophone student must have at least 4 good reeds with them.  Obviously they only use one at a time, but they are very fragile and chip/ break easily.  Having extra reeds on hand will allow everyone to keep playing without interruption! 

 

Here’s what’s suggested:

- 5th grade- #2

- 6th grade- #2 1/2

- 7th/8th grade- #3

 

Store brands are usually the most inexpensive and will work fine.  If you can afford it, I would recommend Vandoren brand reeds.  While a bit more pricey, they sound better and last longer than others.  Those are what I play on!

Arizona State Law (A.R.S. 43-1089.01) allows taxpayers to donate up to $400 per household ($200 for single taxpayers and head of household; $400 for a married couple filing a joint return) of their state taxes to public schools to support extracurricular activities. 

For example, if you owe $1000 in Arizona state taxes and you donate $400 to FUSD for extracurricular activities, you may subtract the $400 from your tax bill and pay only $600.

This is a great deal for band programs as the money you donate can go directly towards your child’s music education!  Imagine the possibilities!  New instruments… sheet music… scholarships… even field trips like a Disneyland trip!

Please visit:

http://www.florenceusd.org/media/EDocs/Tax_Credit_Form_2009.pdf

to download the form!  This is truly a win win situation for you and your child’s school band!