THE Houston Band

Hello Houston Band family,

I write this message hearing students practicing a room over at 7 in the morning. I am proud of the culture students and staff are building together this year. It was also great seeing so many former band students performing in the University of Memphis and University of Tennessee Chattanooga bands last Saturday. I am grateful for what those students contributed to us while here and elated that they are continuing their musical journey as music majors, minors, or hobbyist participants.

As we approach our first competition at the end of this month, the commitment level ramps up significantly. Don't let that make you nervous; it is exciting to commit fully to creating art with others. What a privilege it is to bring something beautiful, fun, and whimsical into the world!

We have several announcements this week, so please read everything carefully. It was great getting to talk to some parents yesterday evening about how we can help support their young musicians. If you have any needs or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out via email.

With excitement and gratitude,

Mr. C

The first of two band dues payments ($250) is past due. The second payment is due on the 15th of September. SchoolCashOnline is available if you wish to pay online. If you don't see band dues on your account, feel free to reach out. Please note that you can avoid the online surcharge by sending in a check to school.

See the "Repeat Announcements" for more details!

Next Saturday September 13th will be our mini camp. This final day leading to our competitive season is a chance to really fine-tune our show leading into our competitive marching season. Attendance is MANDATORY. Missing mini camp is the instructional equivalent of missing an entire week of normal band practices--please make sure you are there unless you are sick.

Schedule may adjust for weather and band progress, so keep the full day open. It is possible we will start earlier or later depending on our progress over the next week. The tentative/ideal schedule is:

8:00am - Staff arrives

8:30am - CALL TIME - Sectional stretch

8:45am - Basics block

9:30am - Full rehearsal (inside/outside determined by weather)

12:00pm - Lunch

1:00pm - Full rehearsal (inside/outside determined by weather)

4:30pm - Dismiss to dinner

5:00pm - Middle school students arrive, joint National Anthem rehearsal

6:30pm - GMSD Middle School Bands National Anthem

6:45pm - THE Houston Band Field Show - "Music from Little Shop of Horrors"

The road to all west starts today! The band room will be open to practice in the mornings from 7:00-7:45 and after school M/W/F until 4:30pm. If you want specific one-on-one help, ask Mr. Sims or Mr. C in advance for a free 20-30 minute lesson!

Like I said above, Mrs. Cara Ortiz has been doing amazing work for our spirit nights and other FUNdraisers! Check out some of the upcoming dates below (remember to MENTION the band!). We will of course share these closer to them happening, as well!

September/October Tuesdays (ongoing) - Zaxby's

Sep 9 - Crumble (4pm-close)

Sep 18 - Chick Fil A (all day)

Sep 24 - Duck Donuts

and more to come!

Dining in Germantown, supporting the band, and seeing your band friends! Win, win, win!!

1. Visit ETA's trip-specific website at: https://trip-details.etadventures.com/?trip-code=houstonorl26
2. On the next screen you should choose the option to "Reserve Now" and then you will be prompted to create an account using your email address or your personal Google account.
3. If you have previously created an account with ETA (if you traveled with the band last spring, this includes you!), you may sign into your existing account to make a reservation and you will not need to create a new account.
4. Once you are into your account, select Add a New Trip, and then enter houstonorl26.
5. You should see your trip details at that point, and then select Make a New Reservation and complete ALL fields. YOU MUST select "quad room" rate even if you would rather have fewer in your room. Even if you pay extra, you will still be put in a room with three other students.

An initial non-refundable deposit of $350 per person is required when you sign up. You must sign up and register by Mon Sep 15, 2025.

Other payments are:

October 15th, 2025 $350 per person

November 15th, 2025 $350 per person

December 15th, 2025 Final Balance ($348 per person)

There is optional trip insurance through ETA.

Trip cancellation insurance enables individuals to cancel their trip at any time due to a family or medical emergency and receive a full refund, or cancel for any other reason at least 48 hours prior to departure and receive a 70% refund. Trip insurance costs $160.

Why the Fast Deposit Timeline?

Due to the very busy second semester this year, this is the ONLY week that was available to travel for band or orchestra. Standardized testing schedules, prom, ACTs, all state, all west, UofM honor band, concert festivals, and all kinds of other factors were at play. The earlier trip unfortunately means earlier payments. If you need to do your trip deposit later, please reach out to me ASAP. If you need to decrease or delay band dues payments until after trip dues are paid, reach out to me as well.

As with many school trips (including all major trips that band and orchestra students have been on for years to places like Europe, Texas, Florida, and more), we are utilizing the services of a third party travel agent to set itineraries, take payments, and disburse materials. Generally, this is a better option to ensure safe, organized, exceptional educational travel experiences for our amazing students. In the same way we wouldn't want a travel agent teaching our students music, we don't want music teachers pretending to be travel agents. We leave it to the professionals!

If you have any issues with the vendor (Educational Travel Adventures), please try to resolve it with them. If you need assistance for any reason, please don't hesitate to reach out to Mr. Carpenter to see if a resolution can be found. That said:

This is a third party field trip through Educational Travel Adventures, which is not sponsored by or affiliated with the Germantown Municipal School District, Houston High School, or the band and orchestra booster programs.

The optional travel insurance offered by ETA is not backed by or affiliated with the Germantown Municipal School District, Houston High School, or the band and orchestra booster programs.

If you have any questions about this, please reach out to Mr. Carpenter.

If you work at or own a business (big or small!), please consider sponsoring the band. Our booster president Mrs. Gilbert has created the following sponsorship document that is printable to present to interested parties. We are grateful to all businesses that support arts education in Germantown.

If you weren't able to help with camp because of weekday obligations, please check out the weekend volunteer opportunities below!

https://forms.gle/Wvyy41YRBpo8hAni9

Please do not just scroll past this form. Take a moment to find something you can help with this school year. As our band grows, so does our need for our exceptional community to rally around it.

We will have outside class the DAY the field is available to us. Please plan accordingly by having water, cool clothing, sunscreen, sunglasses, and anything else you need to beat the heat every day to school.

At our first rehearsal, many students attempted to participate while wearing inadequate clothing. Jeans, layered tops, black attire, and other hot clothing ARE NOT allowed at after school rehearsal until the weather gets much more comfortable. Please also remember to wear comfortable athletic shoes.

Many students forgot water. We will always have a few waters on hand for emergencies, but the expectation is that students supply their own, reusable water bottle. We went through several cases of water at one rehearsal last week. That is costly, negatively impacts the environment, and is overall a worse experience than a reusable bottle. Things like water jugs, Stanley cups, Owala bottles, or equivalent vesicles can keep water significantly colder than a disposable plastic water bottle, so they are strongly recommended in the heat.

From booster president Deanna Gilbert:

Our Booster Board is looking to fill some vacant spots and this is a perfect opportunity for some of our new families to join in behind the scenes of supporting the band. Specifically we are in need of a Booster Secretary (takes minutes at monthly Booster meetings and invites various admin, city leaders and school board to events), a Uniform Co-Chair or 2 (will assist Uniform Chair Erica McCarrens in getting our students ready for games and competitions), and a Publicity Chair (takes pictures at events, updates social media and assists in event promotions). If you are interested or have any questions please reach out to Booster President Deanna Gilbert at dlgilbert3@bellsouth.net.

Our band dues will not be raised moving into this year. Last year, we reduced band dues by $225 to make band as accessible as possible to all students. It's important to participate in our year-round fundraisers to supplement that cost. If fundraising is NOT your thing, please consider just writing a check for $225 (or donating that amount online) to offset what students will typically fundraise over the year if they fully participate in everything. Please note that while there are no consequences to not participating in fundraising efforts, it hurts our band when lots of people don't.

Total mandatory dues: $500 (two payments of $250, one due on August 15th and the other due on September 15th)

Total booster requested donation: $225 by the end of the year - note that this is not a mandatory payment but greatly appreciated by our amazing boosters to alleviate some of the fundraising burdens they have.

If you are unable to pay dues on time (or in full), please reach out to Mr. Carpenter immediately. We will do everything we can to fundraise, provide scholarships, etc. Band is an expensive activity, and these funds are necessary for travel, staffing, instruments, repair, show design, concert music, and much more. Our dues are lower than many other municipal band in the area, and we are incredibly proud of that.

You can pay via check any Friday of the school year or via card on SchoolCashOnline.

Please note, students that miss rehearsals and performances without prior approval will be penalized with grade deductions. All you have to do is give us as MUCH heads up as possible, emailing me the reason for missing and (when relevant) a doctor's note. Please note that the closer we get to a date, the less likely exemption will be granted. Give us time to plan for other students' success when sending us your reasonable conflicts due to health, religion, family emergencies, etc.

Please look ahead in our calendar when scheduling routine doctor or dental care. Your appointment may have been scheduled for six months, but our calendar has been set for 18 months. If you have an immovable appointment, let me know ASAP, not the day before. The former will be exempt, and the latter will not.

Thank you for your understanding and commitment to our band's success!

It is extremely important to plan ahead for ACT dates when you are in band, as we often have Saturday events outside of our scheduling control. The ACT dates with no conflicts are (2025) June 14, July 12, September 6, October 18, (2026) April 11 for most students, June 13, and July 11.

That is more than enough dates to take the ACT an adequate number of times. Missing a band event for the ACT is NOT excused. We understand the inconvenience of not having these dates available, but all of these Saturdays are outside of our scheduling control. Our ACT date conflicts this year are: December 13 (Holiday Parade), February 14 (All West), and April 11 (for All State Students only). Please plan accordingly.

If you are interested in private lessons, please reach out! We are happy to recommend teachers for students of all levels at any budget. The time to start preparing for regional honors ensembles (All West/ All State/ Memphis/ etc.) is NOW, not just the two weeks leading up to those events.

Mr. Sims has created a list of some practice resources for students. If you have any additional resources that have been helpful for you, please feel free to share them!

• The Woodwind Fingering Guide
• "Fingering Chart by Tremolo" on iOS
• PlayScore 2
• Sight Reading Factory (see Mr. C for activation instructions at the start of band camp)
• MusicRacer.com (note that there are strobing lights in this game)

Additionally, students have reported having improved outcomes utilizing the Tonic App. I've heard comparisons to the popular running app Strava, but for music. Parents, please feel free to explore this option for your young musician but be advised that there is a social media element to this app.

If you have a friend, neighbor, family member, or ANYONE else in your life in 4th or 5th grade within GMSD, let them know about the transformative experience band has been in your students' lives. If you know an 8th grader that wants to be in a great band but doesn't live in Germantown, let them know about our academies. We are so excited to continue building our program's numbers back to sustainable levels, but that takes work from everyone. Thank you for helping with that work!

If anyone has ANY questions about band at any level, I'm more than happy to field those questions.

Find upcoming dates for performances, events, and one-off rehearsals below. Note that regular rehearsals are Tuesdays and Thursdays, with sectionals on Mondays.

You can always find our full calendar (including Google and iCal integration links) here: https://www.thehoustonband.com/calendar

Upcoming Dates

• 9/13/25 - Marching Band Mini Camp (all day)
• 9/27/25 - Contest #1 (TBD - Olive Branch or Bartlett most likely)
• 10/4/25 - Contest #2 (Champions @ Collierville)
• 10/10/25 - Football v. Arlington
• 10/25/25 - Recording Session (@ HHS)
• 10/30/25 - Football v. Collierville
• 11/1/25 - Contest #3 (Bandmasters @ Liberty Bowl)
• 11/7/25 (and following Fridays through November) - Potential Playoff Football
• 11/8/25 - Recording Session Rain Date (@ HHS)
• 11/11/25 - Holiday concert rehearsals begin (Tuesdays Concert Band, Thursdays Wind Ensemble)
• 11/22/25 - WTSBOA All West Auditions
• 12/11/25 - Holiday Concert (@ HHS, 6pm)
• 1/8/26 - After school rehearsals begin for CPA cycle (Tuesdays or Thursdays, depending on ensemble)
• 1/28/26 to 2/1/26- Spring Trip - Universal Studios!!
• 2/12/26-2/14/26 - WTSBOA All West Clinic
• 2/21/26 - CPA/Festival Mini Camp (@ HHS, all day)
• 3/12/26 OR 3/13/26 - WTSBOA Concert Performance Assessment
• 4/9/26-4/12/25 - TnMEA All State Clinic and Conference
• 5/5/26 - Tentative Band Concert (dependent on GPAC)
• 5/8/26 - Graduation

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