Welcome Back!! This is going to be an exciting and fun-filled school year. I hope everyone is ready to work hard....I know I am!! I will be working on my National Board Certification this year. There is a lot of planning, organizing, and practicing involved in this process and my students will be involved in this process as well. I encourage anyone who has questions about this process to speak to me and I can explain everything in detail.
I will be required to submit 4 different entries throughout the year. These entries involve case studies and video-taped segments of my classroom. I will need the students that are in my classroom at these times to sign a form giving me permission to video tape our classes. Students names will never be given to anyone and our school name and location are never given. This is a very exciting time for me!! Please contact me if you have any questions! |
I am very excited as the high school marching band is preparing for the Pegasus Parade performance!! Colorguard auditions at the HS have been completed and we will begin auditions with the 8th graders in a few weeks! Any 8th grader interested in marching next year will audition the first week of May.
The school year is winding down quickly, but this is a very busy time for the bands!! We won't stop working until the last day of school!! And Mr. Steelman and I encourage all of you to keep working over the summer to keep our bands strong! |
There is an amazing computer program that can help you practice at home!! Imagine being able to practice at home and have your computer tell you when you make a mistake. Smart Music is easy and fun to use. All you have to do is install the software and plug in a microphone!
Your band books and thousands of solos and band songs are available to use. There is also a built-in tuner and metronome. Wouldn't it be great if you could take your playing tests at home and email them to your teacher?? You can with Smart Music!!!! For demonstration videos and info. on ordering the software and microphone, check out www.smartmusic.com When ordering, you can save money on shipping by simply downloading the program from the website instead of paying for a CD to be shipped to your home!!! |
The new school year is off to a great start!! The 8th grade band is already preparing for our first concert on October 27th. We are also working with 8th grade band students who would like to audition for All-District Band. Auditions will be held on November 3rd at Jackson High School.
The 7th grade band students are off to an amazing start too!! We will be scheduling 2-3 after school rehearsals in October to prepare for the concert on October 27th!! More information will be sent home with students next month. |
Jazz Band is off to a great start!! We meet after school every Wednesday until 4 pm. Any saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone, and percussionist interested in going jazz band should speak to myself or Mr. Steelman. We also need a piano player!!! Come going the fun!!
We are looking into a jazz concert with the High School jazz band....more info. on this later. If we can't get a jazz concert organized, we will have each jazz band perform in the May 17th Band Concert! |
We have two band students in the news!!! The local newspaper has a very nice article about our trip to New York City. The article can be found at www.standard-democrat.com/story/1484034.html For those of you that don't know, Shelby and Jacob were selected to march in the Macy's Great American Marching Band! The band had 235 students from all over the country, Alaska and Hawaii included. I was also there as a chaperone. It was an exhausting trip, but very rewarding! The band students had several rehearsals to prepare for the parade and when they were not rehearsing, we were sight-seeing in New York City!! We saw the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, The Empire State Building and a view of the city at night from the 67th floor of Rockefeller Center. We also did some shopping in the Times Square area, saw Circque de Solieil and ate at some of the most popular restraunts. The parade was amazing! 3.5 million people attended the parade and another 50 million viewed it on TV! I have posted some videos from the 4am rehearsal on youtube.com. And yes, I said 4am rehearsal!! NBC has everyone rehearse before the parade so they know exactly how they will shoot the performances for TV. Here is a link to the actual performance shown on NBC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbP22zEJYMg Here is a link to the newspaper article in the Standard Democrat http://www.standard-democrat.com/story/1484034.html I encourage any of our High School Band Students that are interested to audition for next year's band!! Auditions begin in March 2009. |
On November 4th, we took 31 students to audition for All-District Band. We had 14 students from Sikeston accepted. They will attend a clinic and perform at the Fieldhouse on November 15th.
We are very proud of every one who auditioned!!! Just working on the audition material will make you a better musician and we are proud of every one who put in the extra effort!! The music for next year is already on the internet. We hope to take even more Sikeston students next year. |
Congratulations on a great concert last night! All of the bands played well and the crowd was HUGE!!!  It is wonderful to see all of the support from parents, teachers, friends, and the community for the band students!
Now it is time to begin preparations for our Christmas Concert. We will also be discussing a few concert etiquette rules during class that students can share with their family and friends before our next concert! |
Hello Band Students! We are off to a great start this year! Our first year of 7th grade Beginning Band is going well and we are preparing for our first concert on October 23rd!! Our 8th grade band is also off to a great start. They are preparing SEVERAL pieces of music for our October concert, including a scary piece entitled "Night on Bald Mountain."
Mr. Steelman, Mrs. Cain and I always enjoy hearing comments about your favorite songs, what makes band fun and ideas to make the band better. |
