THE Houston Band

Hello Houston Band family,

We are super excited for our season to kick off on Monday with our percussion and guard camps. This school year will bring a lot of change to our norms, because we are switching to a schoolwide block schedule. I'm excited to figure out what having about an hour and a half of in-school band rehearsals can mean for our program.

This school year will also be different for our wind ensemble students, who have the honor of performing at our state music education conference in January. This is the highest honor a school music program can receive in the state of Tennessee. This will be GMSD's first instrumental music ensemble to ever perform at TnMEA, and we couldn't be prouder of the work students put in last year to earn this honor. Wind Ensemble students will not have to pay extra for this opportunity. If you are interested in and able to help sponsor this event or anything else this season, please reach out.

Find below: information about emergency contacts, volunteering and lunch donations, percussion and guard camps, band dues, and how there's still time to join THE Houston Band!

With excitement and gratitude,

Mr. C

Please fill out this emergency contact form by Friday, July 10th! https://forms.gle/nuzJFN9KyNSZkVCX9

Find below a message from our booster vice president John Hagan:

Houston Band Families,

It’s almost time for summer band, and we are excited to get this season started! These camps are such an important part of building a strong, successful, and connected band program, and we need our amazing band families to help make it all happen.

Please take a few minutes to review the dates, volunteer needs, and donation requests below. Every shift covered and every item donated makes a real difference for our students.

Percussion and Guard Camp

Dates: July 13–18
Time: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

We need percussion and/or guard parents/guardians to help with first aid each day of camp.

Volunteer shifts needed each day:

• 8:30–11:30 a.m.
• 12:30–4:30 p.m.

If you have a medical background and are willing to help, we would be especially grateful. Your support helps us keep students safe, cared for, and ready to do their best.

Full Band Camp

Dates: July 20–25
Time: 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Full Band Camp is one of the biggest weeks of the year, and it takes all of us working together to make it successful.

We need parents/guardians to help with first aid each day.

Volunteer shifts needed each day:

• 7:30–11:30 a.m.
• 12:30–4:30 p.m.

We also need parent volunteers to help with lunches each day of Full Band Camp.

These needs are essential. We truly cannot run these events successfully without parent and guardian support, and we are counting on everyone to pitch in where they can.

Lunch Donation Requests

The Band Boosters will provide the entrees for lunch during Full Band Camp. We are asking families to help round out the meals by donating additional lunch supplies.

Items may be dropped off during the Ice Cream Social on Sunday July 19, or when students are dropped off for camp on Monday morning July 20.

Please donate according to your student’s grade level:

• Freshmen: Individually wrapped chips
• Sophomores: Individually wrapped desserts
• Juniors: 12 oz. bottles of water and Gatorade
• Seniors: Individually wrapped chips

We would also love fresh fruit donations throughout the week from anyone who is able to contribute.

Volunteer Sign-Up

Please sign up for a volunteer shift here: VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

If you would like to help but cannot volunteer for a specific shift, please contact me directly at john.r.hagan@gmail.com.

Thank you for showing up for our students, our directors, and this incredible band program. When everyone does a little, our students gain a lot. Let’s make this a great start to the season!

Sincerely,
John Hagan

Vice President, HHS Band Boosters

I can't believe it's already time for our season to begin! I can't wait to hit the ground running with Percussion/Guard/Leadership camp!

• Student leaders, percussionists, and color guard members will need to attend this week of camp. Other woodwind and brass players do not.
• Dropoff for this week begins at 8:15, and start time is 8:30.
• Unlike full camp, students will need to pack a lunch or make plans to leave campus for lunch. If you explicitly do not want your student to leave campus during lunch, send me an email.
• Camp will be dismissed for lunch at 11:30. Students that need to stay on campus to eat a packed lunch will be supervised.
• Afternoon block begins at 12:45 and goes to 3:30.
• Percussion will have the option to stay for open practice time until 4:30 if needed.
• All students should be off campus by 4:45.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Please read these few bullet points, follow the simple instructions, and make a huge impact on the future of a young musician and our band program!

As we close out school/elective choice season, please know that word of mouth is our best recruiter for the amazing band programs here at Houston High School and within all GMSD Bands. I hope you have seen firsthand the transformative power of instrumental music education and band as an activity.

• If you have a friend, neighbor, family member, or ANYONE else in your life in 5th grade within GMSD, let them know about the transformative experience band has been in your students' lives. The HMS and RK8 band programs are some of the biggest activities on their respective campuses, and they immediately plug students into social and musical opportunities! JOIN THE BAND
• If you know a GMSD 7th or 8th grader that loves band and is considering private school options, please encourage them to reach out to me about our amazing band (along with curricular and extracurricular) offerings at HHS! We offer deeper, more diverse instrumental music opportunities than the vast majority of schools that HMS and RK8 students transfer into, and many families frankly don't know that's the case because of how much some schools highlight the more limited programs in their brochures.
• If you know a talented non-GMSD 8th grader that wants to be in a great school band program, let them know about our academies, which enable a limited number of non-Germantown students preferred-transfers into our amazing school district. Some of our most musically-talented, strongly-contributing, highly-involved members are part of our band through these life-changing academy opportunities! Academies often stay open until the beginning of the school year!
• If you are a freshman or parent of a freshman with friends in the RK8 or HMS band programs, reach out to those friends/family friends about continuing their band journey at HHS! Get the "band" back together! Your call or text can be the difference between a student joining and not joining. It is not too late to add the band elective if a student wants to participate.

We are so excited to continue building our program's numbers back to more sustainable levels, but that takes work from everyone. Thank you for helping with that work!

If anyone has ANY questions about GMSD Bands at any level, I'm more than happy to field those questions. Folks can email me at kevin.carpenter@gmsdk12.org.

They can also check out our info page about band here: https://www.thehoustonband.com/join

If you feel like dues are restricting your ability to participate in band, please reach out ASAP to see what we can do for you to ensure you have access to our amazing programming!

Unless you need a hardship extension (email me!), band dues will be frontloaded to the beginning of the school year. We do this to open up the rest of the year for (optional) trip payments and to make sure we stay in a good financial position through marching season.

Payment 1: $275 due on August 15

Payment 2: $275 due on September 15

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 upcoming ACT dates with no conflicts are: July 11, October 17, and February 27, 2027.

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: September 19 (Mini Camp Rain Date), December 12 (Gtown Holiday Parade). Please plan accordingly.

As we get closer to next school year, we will know more dates that will/won't work with the ACT for the spring of 2027 semester.

If you work for or own a company that makes charitable contributions to nonprofits, please reply and let me know. I'll put you in contact with our booster parents on how to make a tax-deductible donation to our HHS Band Boosters, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports our band operations!

If you're unhappy with chair placements or all west results, please consider asking about private lessons. Mr. Sims and I are happy to give all students a few free one-on-one lessons each year before or after school. We are also happy to provide recommendations for great lessons teachers in the area for students that want to push themselves further as individual musicians. Our core goal as a band is ensemble musicianship, and lessons are a great way to supplement that instruction.

Private lessons make a great gift and can help students secure potential music scholarships and honors ensemble experiences! All five of our All-State students this year are enrolled in regular private lessons.

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!

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.

Instagram | Facebook | Website | Google Calendar