Thank you!

We continue to be so blessed by our amazing parents who go above and beyond for all of the students in our band program.

Thank you so much to our uniform moms who helped tremendously to get our students into uniforms before our pictures this past Thursday. Ms. Dee Dee Williams, Ms. Kristen Daggett, Ms. Cayte Ellison, and Ms. Ashlie Ball have put in many extra hours to make this happen. Thank you so much!

We had many band dads show up early on Saturday to put in a prop building day before our rehearsal. They built the benches for the show as well as started cooking lunch for our students! Thank you for your time and efforts!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our candle light ceremony and for wearing your masks throughout the ceremony. It is heartwarming to see everyone continue to make one another’s health, safety, and comfort a priority. The weather on Saturday did its best to make things difficult for us, but I am so proud of the flexibility of the students and am very thankful that the weather held out enough to complete the ceremony! The ceremony was a wonderful way to kick off the year for all of our students. Looking forward to a great year!

Weekly Update

Monday:

• Percussion from 5:00pm – 8:00pm
• Colorguard from 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Tuesday & Thursday:

• Percussion/Flute/Clarinet/Trumpet/Mellophone from 5:00pm – 8:00pm
• Colorguard/All Saxophones and Bass Clarinets /Trombone/Baritone/Sousaphone from 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Football Game – September 4 – Update

It was announced by Graddick Sports that our game on the 4th was cancelled. That is only partly true. It is my understanding that Cedartown had an outbreak of C-19 amongst their football players and according to the GHSA guidelines, they would not be eligible to play until 2 weeks of quarantine and an extra week of acclimation before competing. It is also my understanding that we are pursuing another opponent to compete against on September 4? If I find out otherwise, I will make an announcement here to let you know that it has been cancelled. Until then, please keep the September 4 game on your calendar. I know that is Labor Day weekend, I promise to let you know as soon as I know something definitive.

Spirit Night Coming Soon!!

Just a reminder that Spirit Night at American Pie is coming up on August 25th! Mark your calendars! We will also have the Band Shoppe setup in the lobby that night for all of your spirit wear.

Safety Precautions Continue

Parents, thank you for continuing to go over these precautions with your child to help us to ensure all of our children’s safety.

Student Arrival

• Students should report to the marching field with their equipment at the appropriate time wearing an acceptable face covering, which include masks, face shields, gaiters, etc. and proper athletic attire – hats, sunglasses, shorts, t-shirt, socks, and shoes.
• The band room will open 30 minutes before the start of rehearsal. Any students who need to enter the band room for equipment will follow the following procedures:
  • Receive hand sanitizer at the door and continue wearing a mask at all times while inside the building.
  • Students will enter the band room at the front of the building and will line up on the blue tape (measuring 6 feet)
  • Students will exit the band room from the nearest alternative exit and will not exit the front of the building.
    • Alternative exits – hallway (winds), garage (large instruments/percussion), and upstairs (colorguard)
• All students need a personal water bottle, preferably one that will keep their water cold. Something similar to the quart sized igloo water cooler is highly recommended. Although we will refrain from using the water fountains, we will allow access to the bottle filling stations so that students may refill their water cooler. We have 2 stations. Students will line up on the tapes to use the water station and exit via the hallway door. Please arrive with your water bottle filled to limit the need to use the filler stations. Students will not have access to the ice machine.
• If on the band practice field please enter the band field via the bridge and receive hand sanitizer upon arrival.
• If in the stadium, please enter by the gate closest to the band room and receive hand sanitizer as you enter the stadium.
• Please do not arrive too early or late – we have staggered start and ending times to help ease the congestion created when we all started and stopped together. This is an effort to assist social distancing during these times.

Dismissal

• It is highly encouraged for all students to take equipment home each day when possible to limit the traffic inside the band room as much as possible. All instruments are welcome to go home, but we understand some may be too large to transport everyday.
• Any equipment that needs to be returned to the band room will be done in the same procedure as when students arrive.
  • Receive hand sanitizer at the door and continue wearing a mask at all times while inside the building.
  • Students will enter the band room at the front of the building and will line up on the blue tape (measuring 6 feet)
  • Students will exit the band room from the nearest alternative exit and will not exit the front of the building.
    • Alternative exits – hallway (winds), garage (large instruments/percussion), and upstairs (colorguard)
• Please be sure to have a ride within 15 minutes of your dismissal time. In an effort to assist social distancing it is important that students do not hang out for an extended period of time after their practice is completed.

Other important notes

• Anyone who has knowingly been exposed to COVID-19 within the past 2 weeks should not participate.
• Staff and students will be screened upon arrival and throughout the camps for signs of illness, such as fever over 100.4 ºF, cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, or new loss of taste or smell. It is important if you have symptoms to stay home and monitor your symptoms and seek medical attention if they worsen or are severe.
• Students who may show symptoms after arrival will be quarantined on campus until a parent can pick them up. If the student drove to rehearsal, a parent will be contacted and a parent will be contacted and arrangements will be made for them to return home.
• Unnecessary visitors are prohibited and parents should remain in their vehicles while dropping off or picking up students.
• Parents who need to visit the band room, should only visit the area closest to Ms. Dothard’s desk in the lobby.
• Staff and students who enter the building will be required to wear an appropriate face covering at all times while in the building in addition to trying to maintain proper social distance.

Donations? Items Needed

• Bottled water or $10 donation so we can buy more
  • Since we are not able to use the water coolers, we will use more bottled water than a typical year. All donations are appreciated.
• Hand Sanitizer
  • We have had a good response, but we will be using quite a bit of sanitizer over the next few weeks. All donations are appreciated.
• Sanitizing wipes
  • This is an area that we do not have as much of, any sanitizing wipes to help keep the storage rooms clean, etc. will help.

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Band Health Class – Please finish by Labor Day

Students have been working diligently all summer for the band health class which is completed online. Your child hasn’t started?! No worries, there is still time, but they need to start NOW. Many students have already completed the entire class! WAY TO GO! More information about the class can be found here. The class code is the code at the end of the title. Students use that code after signing in to Google Classroom (classroom.google.com) to gain access to the class content.

With the extension of the summer, we need to plan on having this class finished before Labor Day. Right now students may retake any exam to get a better grade, but after Labor Day students may only retake an exam that they did not pass. Students will be much happier not having to worry about the health class on top of their other studies.