Naperville Central Marching Classic - 10/4/08

This competition will be a much shorter day than the last one! We will arrive and leave as a group in order to accommodate the majority of students who would like to attend the Homecoming dance. Students will change on busses on the way home, so please be sure to wear appropriate garments (shorts and a t-shirt) under the uniform. Please eat before or after the trip; there will not be time for concessions.

Here is the updated itinerary:

2:15 Call time at EPHS, change into uniforms and load busses
2:45 Leave EPHS on busses
3:45 Arrive at Illinois Benedictine University, warm up, move to competition area
5:15 Band Performance
5:30 Finish performing, return to busses and load QUICKLY
6:30 Arrive at EPHS, unload instruments and uniforms

Please have rides at EPHS by 6:30, as students will be dismissed immediately after their belongings are put away.

Information about the competition (including ticket prices and directions) are available at www.nchsbands.info. Click on the Marching Classic link on the right-hand side.

If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to call or e-mail.

Band Boosters Meeting

Tomorrow's Band Boosters meeting will start promptly at 6:30PM and will wrap up by 7:30. It will be held in the EPHS cafeteria unless we run into a conflict there.

Update for Wheaton North Competition

The students voted to stay for the entire competition time this coming Saturday, September 20. Our band is one of the first to compete, so it’s sure to be a long day! I understand there will potentially be family-related prior commitments, so I will address those before Thursday, September 18th on a case-by-case basis. Here is the updated itinerary:

12:30 Call time at EPHS, change into uniforms
12:45 Leave EPHS on busses
2:00 Arrive at WNHS, warm up, move to competition area
3:30 Band Performance
3:45 Finish performing, return to busses to change back into street clothes
4:15 Return to stands to watch other bands compete
During this time, students will be allowed to visit concessions in groups of three or more. Please be sure to send students with money for dinner on Saturday.
8:30 Award Presentation
9:00 Load busses and depart for EPHS
9:30 Arrive at EPHS, unload instruments and uniforms

Please have rides at EPHS by 9:30, as students will be dismissed immediately after their belongings are put away.

Complete contest information is available at www.wnband.org. Should you wish to attend the competition, adult tickets are available for $10 ($5 for students and seniors).

If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to call or e-mail.

Musically Yours,
Kyle Rhoades

Friday's Game/Weather

Unless you hear otherwise, please report to the band room at 5:00PM (note the change in timing from before). We will perform unless the game is called off, so please wear appropriate garments under the uniform. (under armour, etc.)

Please stay tuned to this website for up-to-date information.

Box Tops

The EPHS Band will be collecting box tops this year as a fundraiser. There are several products which all meet the criteria for "box tops" - that list is available here: http://www.boxtops4education.com/Downloads/Coordinator/Clip/ParticipatingProductsFlyer2008.pdf

Please submit any of those materials to Mr. Rhoades ASAP - the money adds up quickly!

Thursday Rehearsal 9/11/08, Friday's Game

Thursday's rehearsal will be from 6:00-7:30PM. At that time, students will be dismissed to meet their parents for Open House.

Any students still without uniforms will need to be at EPHS by 5:30 on Thursday.

Please remember for Friday's game that you will only be allowed to participate if you are in FULL UNIFORM (few exceptions will be if you are in football or if gloves do not arrive on time). Please see the section below titled "Uniform Policy" for details. Friday's performance is worth 50 points of your quarter grade.

IF YOU ARE MISSING ANY PARTS OF YOUR UNIFORM, SEE MR. RHOADES ASAP.

Thursday Rehearsal 9/4/08

Tonight's 6:00 rehearsal will most likely be inside and slightly shortened. Please remember that no rehearsal is automatically canceled due to weather.

Grading

The following should be used as an approximate guideline only, as grades and assignments will be subject to change.

There have been some questions raised about band participation relating to grades. As stated in the handbook, all rehearsals and performances are mandatory. From now on, grading will be as follows:

Each daily rehearsal counts for 5 points. *
Each Thursday night rehearsal counts for 10 points. *
Each performance/competition counts for 50 points.
Your total quarter will add up to approx. 575 points, give or take a few for extra assignments.

Tardies, lack of preparedness, forgetting equipment, etc. will all be detrimental to your grade as decided by the Director. Not attending a rehearsal will merit a forfeiture of those applicable participation points. Please remember that all absences (except illness) should be excused with a signed parent note ahead of time. Work is not an appropriate excused absence.

In general, if you show up with your required materials, you get an A without a problem. Everyone has the complete potential to earn 100% in Band, whether you're first chair or last chair :-)

*Legitimate absences will be excused at the Director's discretion, and only when accompanied by a note from a parent/guardian.

WNHS Competition

Here is a tentative schedule for the Wheaton North Competition on Saturday, September 20:

12:45 Call time at EPHS, change
1:15 Depart EPHS
2:15 Arrive WNHS
3:30 Performance
Watch Round Lake, Sycamore, and Fremd HS Bands
4:30 Depart WNHS
5:00 Arrive EPHS, change, and go home!

Drumline Practice

There will be a drumline practice on Wednesday morning, September 3, at 7:45AM.