Band Booster News. Patron of the Bands. Director of Bands Rich Armstrong. Silver Corporate Patron. Corporate Patron

Transcription

1 Band Booster News Working Together, Achieving More January 2006 Patron of the Bands The Boosters are PROUD to recognize our 2006 corporate sponsors Silver Corporate Patron Agri-Commerical Corporation Darell & Gladys Nay Waxahachie Veterinary Clinic Corporate Patron The Greenery Whitaker Metal Deck Sales Congressman Joe Barton Committee Pearman Oil & L.P. Gas United States Aluminum Corp. of Texas Citizens National Bank For information on how to become a Patron of the Bands contact Gary Wyatt - 972/ or wyatt.gary@sbcglobal.net Christopher McCardle Resigns On December 12 th, Christopher McCardle resigned his position as the Assistant Band Director at the high school due to pressing family responsibilities in New Orleans. The WISD Band program wants to take this time and thank Chris for all of the great work that he did through out the marching season. His wealth of knowledge in the fields of percussion, marching band, and band in general were very instrumental in our success this semester. Mr. McCardle will always be a member of the Waxahachie family and we wish him the greatest success in his personal and professional pursuits. You are a great person and we thank you for the gifts of knowledge that you have given our young musicians. You will be missed. Rich Armstrong Derek Phillips New Assistant Band Director Derek Phillips has been hired as the new Assistant Band Director at the high school. Mr. Phillips comes to us from Northwest Louisiana University with a degree in Music Education. His primary duties will included conducting the symphonic band, teaching beginning percussion at Turner, and managing the development of the percussion program in the district. He has a wealth of knowledge in the areas of percussion and band and we are extremely excited to have him join our team. Rich Armstrong Director of Bands Rich Armstrong Rich Armstrong is in his first year as the Director of Bands for the Waxahachie Independent School District and his 14 th as a Texas Music Educator. He taught in Duncanville and Arlington prior to coming to Waxahachie in He serves as the conductor of the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Jazz Orchestra, and the director of the ensemble classes. Prior to his appointment as head director, Mr. Armstrong served as the assistant director in Waxahachie for three years where his duties included directing the Jazz Bands, Symphonic Band, and instrumental ensemble classes, as well as assisting with the marching band. While the assistant at Waxahachie, his bands consistently earned Superior Ratings at the U.I.L. Concert and Sight Reading Contest. Additionally, the jazz orchestra was named the best 4A band at the UTA Jazz Festival. Mr. Armstrong graduated from MacAuthur High School in 1982, then received a Bachelors degree in Music Education and a Masters degree in Educational Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has been an active clinician throughout the United States, Canada, Holland, and the West Indies in the areas of jazz, marching band, and drum corps. He is an active drill writer and served on the UTA drum major staff from In 2004, Mr. Armstrong was the principal teacher for the UTA Leadership Summer Camp. Mr. Armstrong's first teaching experience came in 1983 when he started working with the baritone section of the World Champion Garfield Cadets drum and bugle corps. In 1984, the Cadets selected him as their drum major, and under his leadership the corps won two more consecutive world championships in 1984 and Mr. Armstrong has served on the staffs of the Cadets, Blue Devils, Carolina Crown, and the Dutch Boys Drum and Bugles Corps. He has worked with the some of the greatest names the drum corps world has to offer including George Hopkins, George Zingali, Michael Cesario, Thom Hannum, Tom Aungust, Mark Silvester, April Gillian, Jim Prime, Donny Van Doren, Frank Williams, Dave Gibbs, Wayne Downey, Peggy Twiggs, Ralph Hardiman, Johnny Sanchez, and Jay Murphy. His professional affiliations include TMEA, IAJE, USSBA, and DCI. Mr. Armstrong enjoys spending time with his wife Denise and their three children, Micaiah, Elijah, and Lilyanna.

2 Turner Middle School Band The first semester at Turner Middle School ended with a barrage of successful performances. The band performed to enthusiastic audiences at Dunaway and Northside Elementary Schools on Thursday, December 8; all decked out in their new band shirts. Because of inclement weather, the band did not perform at Wedgeworth and Shackelford Elementary Schools, but will do so on Wednesday, January 4. On Thursday evening, December 15, the band performed their evening concert to a packed house at the Fine Arts Center. Every student met the criteria of dressing up for the performance, and their stage presence was nothing less than professional. They looked awesome! The band performed Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, African Noel, and Up On The Housetop. Specialty features included Jingle Bells, conducted by unannounced Santa Claus (and wasn t Santa pretty awesome???) and Christmas In The Kitchen, which featured eight very talented Turner Middle School faculty musicians: Amy Alderman, Donna Blanton, Nora Crist, Rose Ann Hartman, B.J. Ishmael, Karen Lopez, Mike Peavler, Debbie Tay and Paul Richards. They performed on pots, pans and water glasses. The stage was beautifully decorated by Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Rayford, Mrs. Lamb, Mrs. Frey, Mrs. Horning, and former TMS band parent Mrs. Woody Perry. The evening finalized with refreshments provided by our WISD Band Boosters and served by the parents of our junior high and high school bandsmen, which allowed all Turner parents to listen to the entire evening s performance. The new format was so successful that we are encouraging more parents to participate in the serving of refreshments at our after-concert receptions Working Together, Accomplishing More. The Turner Band s contest to see who could get the most number of people to attend their evening concert ended with great success. First place was worth $50.00; second place $30.00 and third place $ Krista McCoy and Sam Allelo tied for first (added first and second and split) with 30 attendees each and Weston Merrill won third with 29. Congratulations to these bandsmen! Approximately 800 people attended the evening concert. Everything that we do in the band program at Turner is a first for our kids. To perform a concert is one thing, but to play for your peers is the most challenging of all. Friday, December 16, the band performed for the entire Turner student body and staff. For a last day at school, it was amazing how well the student body received the band. The sixth graders could not have been more respectful; they were in awe at how well the band performed. All of our lives we have been entertained and now we are learning how to become the entertainers. Making this transition is a great and rewarding experience. All of this could not happen without the support of our administrators, teaching staff and parents. Everyone is going the extra mile in giving our children the opportunity to become successful. Mrs. Sutton (Turner Middle School Principal), staff and teachers could not be more cooperative with the band s recruiting concerts in our elementary schools. This is a major disruption to the school day when we take 28% of the student body out of the classrooms. But, the faculty knows that the band students are very responsible students and that they will make up any work missed. It is a privilege for a teacher to be associated with these types of students. On behalf of the Turner band program, we again want to thank the parents for helping with the band shirt measurements, the giving out of shirts, the box folding project, the chaperoning to Celebration Station and the recruiting trips to the elementary schools, the cleaning of the football stadium, the passing out of programs, the taking up of tickets at the concert, and the lists goes on forever. And most of all, thank you for giving your children the opportunity to experience band. We will do all that we can to make your child deserving of this expensive endeavor. Mrs. Owens and I do enjoy the association with your children, and we look forward to a second semester of fun-packed activities. It only gets more exciting! From the Owens Family and the Turner Band, we wish you a Merry Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. -Donnie & Margie Owens Waxahachie Junior High Bands The Junior High directors would like to thank the following people for helping with the holiday concert: Cameron Alfard, Stephanie Baze, Paula Coleman, Angela Cupp, Cindy Featherston, Paige Gordon, Sheryl Ground, Monica Guerrera, Juanita Hernandez, Tina Herrington, Alisha Huff, Carol Kimberlin, Stephanie Kinnison, Laura Kirton, Karen Kisten, Mr. and Mrs. Manela, Jeff Martin, Carmen Martinez, Cheryl McMurray, Rabab Muwaquet, Cindy Murray, Neal White, Christi Nutt, Valli Phillips, Cherrie Prescott, Edward Quintana, Melanie Reed, Michelle Scott, Tania Sharp, Becky Smith, Cheryl Stephens, Tammy Willoughby, Tammy Wright, Sheila Zimmerman, Kathie Lorfing, DeAnn Vanhoffman, and Lisa Richardson. If we left anyone off, please call the Jr. High Band Hall and make us aware. We apologize ahead of time if this occurs. A very special thank you goes out to Lori Zagala for being the project manager of the concert. We greatly appreciate her time and effort. Cheryl Stephens for being the Jr. High Band Booster representative and always making magic happen. You are appreciated. Chris Buse for all of your suggestions. We appreciate you. - Kendra Ray

3 Thank You Refreshments A special thank you to Cheryl Stephens for providing the refreshments at the December booster meeting. Jr. High Uniforms A special thank you to ALL of the parents that helped with the Jr. High Uniforms. Those that helped measure students for their uniforms as well as those that help distributed uniforms and prepare the students for their Holiday concert. Holiday Concert Refreshments A special thank you goes to the many people that donated items and helped serve refreshments for the Holiday Band Concerts. We would also like to thank the following individuals for coordinating the refreshments and workers for the various band concerts: Chris Buse, Paige Cooke, Lori Zagala, Lisa Popp, Cheryl Stephens & Margie Owens. BBQ Pit A special thank you to the BBQ Pit for donating food for the December Band Party. Jazz Posters A special thank you to Lawrence Lipman for donating his printing services for the Jazz Café Posters. The printing of color posters is very expensive and Mr. Lipman provided the boosters with a large number of high quality color posters at zero cost to the boosters! Thank you so much Mr. Lipman for you generosity! Adult Volunteers The boosters make every attempt to recognize ALL of our many volunteers. There are many, many parents that give countless hours that go unrecognized and for that we salute you for all that you do. We would like to take this time to apologize for those instances when we have failed to recognize parents for their individual contributions. Although we do make every effort to make sure every volunteer is recognized, we sometimes miss people. Every booster event should have a volunteer sign-in sheet to record volunteer hours. We then submit this information to the district and we use this information to compile our list of volunteer names for the newsletter. If your name is not recorded on the volunteer sign-in sheet then you may not get the recognition you deserve. The volunteers that are recording your volunteer hours may not be aware of your volunteer service without this information. Please do not hesitate to notify the booster organization or your child s band director if we missed your volunteer hours. We would like to be able to recognize your efforts as well as record your hours with the district. You can submit any newsletter omissions or corrections to Lisa Popp at lisapopp@texasairnet.com. Apologies Apologies to James Zimmerman, 7th grade Trombone, for the editing error that omitted his name from the list of WJHS All Region qualifiers in the December newsletter. James earned 9th chair All Region Concert Band. Apologies to Karis McGrew, Bass Clarinet player in the 7th grade Symphonic Band, for her name being left off of the Junior High Holiday Concert Program. Apologies to Lisa Richardson, Bradley Richardson s (8th grade trumpet) mom, for omitting her name from the list of Junior High October Party helpers. HS All Region Band Qualifiers Shelby Richie - Oboe* Neetu Mathew - Flute* Jaci Wyatt - Flute Elizabeth Buchanan -Flute Lyndi Ashley - Clarinet* Sarah Marshall - Clarinet Shaun Patterson - Clarinet John Meade - Alto Sax Michael Prohaska - Trumpet Matt Neal - Trumpet James Hollingsworth - Trumpet Jake Bolten - Trumpet Alternate Dylan Dacy - Horn* Amber Grant - Horn* Alex Bowling - Horn* Jeremy Brown - Trombone* Will Davis - Trombone* David Pryor - Tuba Caleb Gilbreath - Percussion* * Advancing to Area Mid-Winter Concerts Series WHS Band - Thursday, Feb. 2nd WJHS Band - Thursday, Feb. 9th December Adult Volunteers Cameron Alfard Belinda Ashley Robert Ashley Stephanie Baze Michelle Berning Chris Buse Paula Coleman Phyllis Collier Paige Cooke Angela Cupp Jennifer Dacy Theresa Davis Maria Dishman Dee Dishman Cindy Featherston Paige Gordon Sheryl Ground Monica Guerra Juanita Hernandez Tina Herrington Alisha Huff Carol Kimberlin Stephanie Kinnison Laura Kirton Karen Kisten Kathie Lorfing Mr & Mrs Manela Jeff Martin Carmen Martinez Cheryl McMurray Cindy Murray Rabab Muwaquet Jackie Newcome Christi Nutt Margie Owens Woody Perry Valli Phillips Lisa Popp Cherrie Prescott Edward Quintana Melanie Reed Jennie Reese Marty Reese Lisa Richardson Michelle Scott Tania Sharp Becky Smith Karen Summers Cheryl Stephens Tom Stephens DeAnn Vanhoffman Kim Vescey Neal White Tammy Willoughby Tammy Wright Gary Wyatt Lori Zagala Sheila Zimmerman

4 HS Spring Trip Payment Schedule Payment # Jazz Band The jazz band will be working fast and furious the month of January and February to prepare for two great music events. Several students have accepted the responsibility of playing in the orchestra for the musical Footloose that is being produced by the WHS drama and choir departments. Plan to experience the thrill and excitement of Footloose starting January 26th. The jazz band has procured a great dance band book and will be diligently preparing 4 hours of big band music from the Glenn Miller era. Please see ad to the left for more information. The band will also be preparing for the annual TCU Jazz Festival on Saturday, April 1st. Don t miss these great listening opportunities. - Rich Armstrong, Director of Bands Payment Date Payment Amount 1st January 13 $ nd February 10 $ rd March 24 $75.00 or Balance Due Make all checks and money orders to WHS Band Boosters. Put payments in black lock box in band hall. Mr. T s fundraising credits will be used after the first payment has been made in January. Any questions concerning your accumulated Mr. T s credits can be directed to Gary Wyatt. Please make every effort to get these payments in on time. Trip cancellation fees go into affect after March 1st, If you have any questions please contact Mr. Armstrong at or rlarm@wisd.org. Winter Guard 2006 Schedule Day/Date Mon. January 9 Tues., January 17 Mon. January 23 Mon. January 30 Sat. February 4 Mon. February 6 Sat., February 11 Mon., February 13 Mon., February 20 Sat., February 25 Tues., February 28 Mon., March 6 Mon., March 20 Tues., March 27 Fri., March 31 Time Event/Place Garland Events Center Colleyville Heritage Thomas Coliseum Bowie High School -Denise Armstrong, Winter Guard Director

5 Waxahachie Band Booster Club P. O. Box 2092 Waxahachie, Texas RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT U.S. Postage Paid Waxahachie, TX PERMIT NO. 209 To the Parents of: January Execute Meeting Thursday, Jan. 5, 7:00 P.M. Booster Meeting Monday, Jan. 9, 7:00 P.M. WHS Band Hall January 2006 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Executive Committee Mtg 7pm 6 7 Area Auditions 7am-7pm Duncanville HS 8 9 Booster Meeting 7pm All Region JH/HS Concert/Client 4:30-9:00pm Duncanville HS 14 All Region JH/HS Concert/Client 7:00-10:00pm Duncanville HS Martin Luther King Day No School Musical Footloose 7pm FAC 20 Musical Footloose 7pm FAC 21 Musical Footloose 7pn FAC SAT Exam