THE Houston Band

Hello Houston Band family,

I could not be prouder of our amazing young performers last Saturday!

On the first night of Homecoming festivities at HHS, band students students poured their ALL into their best performance of the season so far at the Collierville Tournament of Champions! The crowd loved it, the students sounded and looked great, and “that moment” got a BIG laugh/cheer (including on all the judge tapes!). We are on a great trajectory to finish the season strong. For a wind division that is HALF freshmen and a band that is TWO THIRDS underclassmen, I continue to be genuinely amazed at the quality of performance our students achieve. The most important thing is never “winning” at a competition (in fact, it is by far the least important), but it definitely doesn’t feel bad to do so on occasion!

I'm also incredibly proud of our community for supporting these performers. I encourage you to read about how a talented alumnus welded and donated what would have been $10k+ of prop carts, a generous student leader painted over 500sqft of backdrops, a creative parent made a (donated!) Audrey II prop come to life, an exceptional STEM teacher oversaw students make carts and crates, and a team of dozens of parents take painstaking care of it all every performance. Our community (and our team of very hard working instructors!) prove every day that budget-conscious production of GENUINELY FUN shows to perform/watch is still possible in our activity, even when the "General Effect" sheet can feel incredibly daunting.

My pride in our community extends into the stands at competitions. I'm so grateful to our spectators for cheering on our band AND other bands, uplifting all performers wherever we go. I heard that parents from other bands Saturday were saying all kinds of unkind things about other bands after performances and during the awards ceremony. I'm so happy that the Houston Band Family knows that art music is about uplifting and empowering young people. Band is NOT about trophies, judge tapes, or one school's students being "better" than another's. That is ludicrous. Thank you for cheering on all the bands, no matter what!

Catch us one last time in competition at The Bandmasters Championship November 1st (downbeat 6:1pm at the Liberty Bowl). Go mustangs!!

With excitement and gratitude,

Mr. C

Envelopes for cookie dough sales went out today. Cookie dough sales go through October 21st. This is an easy (and delicious!) fundraiser, where sales are taken via a QR code. No money handling!

5:30pm - Band room opens

5:45pm - Call time (In white member shirt + pants or shorts - no neon, navy blue, or gold colors. Feel free to bring a jacket if you get cold easily.)

5:50pm - National anthem rehearsal with guest conductor

6:04pm - Drumline leaves for stang walk

6:40pm - Leave band room

6:47pm - On field ready to go

6:48pm - National anthem

6:55pm - Run in/fight song

7:00pm - Kickoff

HALF TIME - Homecoming performance (no field show!)

THIRD QUARTER - Off

3 mins left in third - Call time (do not be late!)

3:00 after game end: dismiss to band room via field access using STAIRS unless ramp is necessary

20:00 after game end: nonemergency number called for students not yet picked up

30:00 after game end: all staff departs

Please pick up your students promptly after the game concludes. Thirty minutes is enough time to arrive here from the Hernando de Soto bridge, so it is enough time to pick up a student from anywhere you should feasibly be the evening of a game. Please plan on being ready for pickup at any time between 8:45 and 10:30 for home games, with extended outliers either way.

Mrs. 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!

October Tuesdays (ongoing) - Zaxby's Houston Levee

October 31 - Baskin Robbins

and more to come!

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

We always finish the rehearsal at the end of October with a celebratory sharing of candy and photographs! Please send in any bulk candy (this is easy this time of year--if you see a big bag on sale at a good price please grab it and send with your student!) and physical photos to my office for that rehearsal. Students also love getting the photos off the trifold boards, because many of them don't have a lot of physical photos! If you have great photos (band shots/closeups/etc.), please send them in!

If you have an incomplete merch order, please reach out to MidSouth Solutions via phone or email. The only exception to this is if you are missing a poster (see me in my office). If you are missing an entire merch order from the first run of merch, please forward me a copy of your confirmation email. There were several problems this year, and I want to make sure everyone gets their merch.

customerservice@midsouthsolutions.net

901-373-8597

If this problem does not get resolved effectively, please 1) issue a chargeback if you have exhausted all other options and 2) let me know ASAP.

We are on the lookout for a potential new merch vendor, specifically with independent shop functionality, if anyone has any recommendations.

An initial non-refundable deposit of $350 per person was required to sign up. You must have signed up, registered, and paid by Mon Sep 15, 2025 to be guaranteed a spot on the trip. That said, if there are open spots left, ETA sometimes will accept late additions. Please feel free to reach out to them to see if it's possible to join us on this trip!

Upcoming 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.

Third-Party Travel Agency Notice

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 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!

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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