3rd Place Overall at Super Bowl of Sound

This season has been full of challenges due to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Many marching bands across the nation cancelled their seasons, including many Georgia marching bands choosing not to compete due to the extreme challenges in preparing a show under social distancing guidelines and holding rehearsals outside only. We are so thankful that our families have embraced our COVID guidelines, assisted in educating our students about the importance of wearing masks, washing hands, using hand sanitizer, and refraining from participation when not feeling well. Some groups scheduled to complete their seasons on Saturday were not able to participate and our heart goes out to them. We know how special each opportunity is for our children and are thankful that we had the opportunity to compete this year. We couldn’t have accomplished so much with out all of our amazing parents, thank you for your support!

Our season began with a band camp that was 99% outside, including sectionals which is a time that we would traditionally be inside out of the heat. We are blessed to have access to an indoor facility that did provide some solace from the blazing sun, but we limited our time inside for precautionary measures. Currently, we only play our instruments while outdoors. Anytime we have experienced rain, we have held class indoors but have refrained from playing our instruments. Lessons inside have included music theory, software instruments accessed with phones/tablets/computers, YouTube videos highlighting interesting musical history or performers/performances, and reviewing rehearsal/performance videos to prepare for the week’s performances.

With all of the extra challenges and adjustments to overcome them, we have been blessed to have a successful competitive season for our Trojan Band students and especially our Seniors! Our boosters successfully celebrated senior night complete with a senior breakfast and a terrific evening celebrating our students’ commitment to our band, school, and community. We welcomed our 8th graders during an electric game versus Rome and overcame the extra challenge of hosting 8th grade night during a very rainy evening. And as many times as the decision to continue may have been second guessed, confirmation that we did the right thing was received when visiting the enthusiastic 8th graders the next week who all cheered about the experience and proclaimed that they couldn’t wait to participate in the band next year!

A similar experience of battling the weather was endured when we traveled to Strong Rock Christian. The day was beautiful that morning but quickly turned into a downpour as we were loading equipment. Things looked optimistic on our trip to the competition until the tractor trailer and the van both experienced blown tires, and the rain picked up just as we arrived at the competition. Because of the weather our performance was moved inside and we had just enough time after overcoming the obstacles to unload, set-up, and perform without a typical warm-up session. This was a blessing however since we were able to limit our indoor participation to well under the recommended 30 minutes by the University of Colorado’s Aerosol Study. That performance will forever be a highlight to our staff and students as we witnessed one of the most exciting performances that our Trojan Band has ever performed. The crowd was enthralled with their performance and provided enthusiastic feedback to their efforts!

The county exhibition was rescheduled in the middle of the season and our students had a chance to share in the camaraderie of all of our local bands in a wonderful evening of marching band. It was a night filled with optimism because it was one that we were uncertain would happen this year.

And then, this past Saturday our students performed with passion and professionalism as they poured their hearts into a final competitive performance at the Super Bowl of Sound. The morning began with more uncertain weather as we prepared for rehearsal amongst rain clouds and puddles. With tarps standing by in the case of a pop-up shower, we began rehearsal in hopes that the radar was accurate and that the rain had passed for the day. Blessings followed as the clouds slowly dissipated and we began to feel the warmth of the sun during the last few reps of the afternoon practice. And WOW! What a performance!

Our Trojans earned Superior ratings in all captions and finished in Open Class 1st Place colorguard, 2nd Place Band, Percussion, and Drum Major with an overall 3rd place finish! When preparing the show this year our design staff was intentional about creating a show with social distancing incorporated, regardless of the challenges that we knew would arise from the extra distances built into the show. Perception of tempo, listening responsibilities, ensemble cohesiveness, form control, musical balance and blend were all things that we knew would be a greater challenge this season. The determination with which our students tackled these challenges continues to be an inspiration! Our Trojans are resilient and deserve the highest praise for their willingness to face adversity with bravery and work together to have a successful season! Congratulations, Trojans on an OUTSTANDING season!! All of our staff agree that we are so PROUD of you and are LUCKY to get to work with you everyday. You are all ROCKSTARS!

Concert Scheduled for Thursday – Cancelled

The concert that we had on the calendar was scheduled optimistically, but with the rescheduling of our competitive season to end in November rather than the middle of October and with the added challenge of only rehearsing outdoors, we have decided to alter our approach to this concert. In addition to recording the music for the ROTC Veteran’s Day assembly, we will perform our Armed Forces Salute in honor of our Veterans at the November 20th football game vs. Douglas County in addition to performing our field show and concluding with Battle Hymn. Also, the students have been assigned chamber music in addition to some full ensemble pieces that we will prepare over the next couple of weeks. The plan is to record the chamber music performances during class to create a virtual concert highlighting our most outstanding performances to share in the coming weeks.

Week at a Glance

With Friday’s game being another away game versus Alexander. We will not have any marching band after school this week. We will rehearse on Thursday, November 19 from 3:30PM – 4:30PM to prepare for our game on Friday November 20.

All in One

Please remind anyone who purchased All in One from you that the pick dates are on November 20 and November 21. Any fruit not picked up by 12:00pm on November 21 will be donated to local food pantries. Volunteer sign up is below. We need as many hands on deck as we can get. It is a great way to get to know other band parents who are working hard to support all of our Trojan Band students. We would love to have your help!

Sign up link

Spirit Night – Nov 17 • American Pie

Spirit night at American Pie will be November 17! Come over, have some great food, get your CHS Band Merch, and support the Band. Every time we have a spirit night it helps raise money for just eating dinner so thank you for your amazing support!

If you have a child who participates in the marching band, it is very important that you subscribe to our Remind. Although we will send communications regarding class via Infinite Campus (IC) messenger, we use Remind for our extra curricular communications. The interface for the IC messenger does not allow us to send messages unless we use a computer and we often need access to send a communication (i.e., updated ETA’s) using our phones. We use Remind for all “just in time” communication to our marching band parents and students.

How to Join Remind

We would also appreciate you following the band on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Trip Update and Trip Fundraiser Opportunity

As previously posted, we have decided as a booster club not to travel to Philadelphia and DC this year in light of all current events. The trip instead has evolved into a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando Florida (Admission to both parks and Volcano Bay). The cost of the trip is $800 (for Quad occupancy) and we have opened spots back up for the trip. If you previously paid a deposit for the Philly/DC trip and not requested a refund, your deposit has been transferred to the new trip and is now non-refundable. All payments are due in full by mid-February. The suggested payments are $200 a month (Nov 30, Dec 18, Jan 22, Feb 22).

This is the last week to sign-up for the trip. A $50 non-refundable deposit is due by November 13. Please turn it in ASAP however because due to bus capacities, there are limited spots. If we have enough interest we may open more spots up by adding another bus, but we would need to be able to fill that extra bus or the cost of the trip could increase. Payments will be handled through our booster club at the Square Site. After paying the deposit to secure a spot, the following payment schedule should be followed: $200 by Nov 30; $400 by Dec 18; $600 by Jan 22; $800 by Feb 22.

Fundraiser Opportuntiy

Thursday (Nov. 12th) is the deadline to order for Christmas delivery

Each student received information for our trip fundraiser through Super Fan. Please register and share the custom link you get through social media, email or text to your family and friends.

https://carrolltontrojanband.superfanfundraising.com/team_members/registration

carrollton-trojan-band-parent-fundraiser-letterDownload

Each order that comes through your link will earn you 40% of the total order cost (not including shipping/handling) toward your trip cost. Share it, sit back and watch the money come in. This will be an ongoing fundraiser but if someone wants their order before Christmas, they need to order by November 12th. They have items starting at $10.00 to accommodate all budgets and feature the Tervis best selling, made in America hot/cold tumbler!

Borrowed Shoes?

If your child borrowed shoes from the extra shoe pile in the uniform room, please ask them to return them. We keep extra shoes so that students who may have forgotten their pair at home or had trouble finding a pair for that week’s performance can be in full uniform, but the shoes have not been returned and our inventory is running thin. Thank you for your help with returning the shoes.

Final Week of the Health Class

More information about the class can be found here.

Mr. Carr cannot accept any more health work after November 15. The work was technically due by the end of September. If you still have work that has not been completed, these are your last 2 weeks to get it all completed.