Wow! Our students had a very busy weekend! On Friday, our saxophone quartet (Tyler Clotfelter, Samantha Berg, Camren Harley, and Yael Ramirez) started the day at 7:00AM with Christmas Carols for our Pre-K and Kindergarteners at CES. Their performance excited the students and teachers. I received many compliments about how professional they sounded, one teacher even asked where the CD player was before discovering the quartet was live. Then Friday night, we cheered on our Trojans to another victory! It was bittersweet as it was our seniors last time performing in Grisham Stadium for a football game. We had fun in the CHAMP before the game, performing in the stands, and combining for half-time with North Gwinnett. It’s so much fun getting to know other band students from other schools and working together to create something unique for half-time.

Then on Saturday there was Tuba Christmas, the Carrollton Christmas Parade, and our Christmas Party that evening. We had one alumnus, Hunter Moore, attend the inaugural Tuba Christmas, and Dr. Carr served as one of the organizers of the event. It was a great morning of Christmas Carols. It will return again next year on the first Saturday of December. Our band did OUTSTANDING in the parade! We performed our Christmas Parade Sequence a few times and noticed that the fans on the street wanted something a bit livelier, so we also performed some of our favorite stands tunes. It was exciting to hear the crowd cheering “STATE BOUND” and “GOOD LUCK AT THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP” as we marched down the street. Seeing the enjoyment created by our students performance is very rewarding.

When we got back to the band room, we arrived to find that our parents decorated the band room, prepared a delicious spread for dinner, and organized some reindeer games for our us. Santa Claus made an appearance and DJ TWill kept the studnets dancing all night. It was a fun evening of fellowship and celebration of an outstanding year so far! Thank you so much to everyone to helped decorate, provide food, and chaperone! We also discovered that a stocking had been hung for each student! Colleen Brown and her daughter McKenzie Swain stiched the names into each stocking. These will hang in the band room as decoration until the last few days of the semester. Students are welcome to take their stocking home with them after the Championship Game on Tuesday, December 16.

This Week at a Glance • CHS School Announcements
12/8 – 12/13

• Monday: Winter Guard | 3:30pm – 6:00pm
• Tuesday: Winter Guard | 3:30pm – 6:00pm
• Wednesday: Open
• Thursday: Winter Guard | 4:00pm – 8:00pm
  • Present Wrapping | 3:30PM – 5:00PM | Leadership
• Friday: Winter Guard | Drill Camp | 4:00pm – 8:00pm
• Saturday: Winter Guard | Drill Camp | 8:00am – 8:00pm
  • GMEA District Honor Band Auditions • East Paulding High School
    • Our scheduled time is 3:00PM | Arrive by 2:30 to begin warming up
    • Once warmed up, get in line to audition

Week of (12/15 – 12/19) Preview

• Monday: Winter Guard | 3:30pm – 6:00pm
  • Christmas Concert | 7:15pm | MAC
• Tuesday: Championship Game | 8:00pm | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Buy TIckets | More Info | Itinerary TBD
• Wednesday: Open
• Thursday: 3rd and 4th Block Finals
  • Winter Guard | 4:00pm – 8:00pm
• Friday: Winter Guard | Drill Camp | 4:00pm – 8:00pm
  • 1st and 2nd Block Finals • Early Release @ 12:30pm
• Enjoy your Christmas Break!
  • Christmas Break from December 22, 2025 – January 6, 2026

Christmas Sponsorship

Thank you so much for your assistance making Christmas extra special for the family we are sponsoring. Please bring in all gifts by Thursday morning so that our leadership can wrap the presents in time for the family to pick them up on Friday.

We are collecting gifts for a special family this holiday season. If you’d like to participate, please visit: https://bit.ly/2025BandChristmas to sign up for items. Please bring in new, unwrapped items to the band room by Thursday, December 11. Our band leadership will meet after school on the 11th to wrap the presents so that the family can pick them up on Friday, December 12. Thank you for being a blessing to our community!

District Honor Band Auditions

District Honor Band Auditions are next Saturday, December 13, at East Paulding High School. Students who signed up should report by 2:30PM to sign-in. Our audition times begin at 3:00PM. Auditions are heard on a first come, first served basis. Spend enough time in the warm-up room to make sure that your instrument is working, but remember to not over practice in the warm-up room. No points are earned in the warm-up room, but other students tend to want to show off how fast, high, loud that they can play in the warm-up room. This is not the time to try and impress the other students. Check that everything is working, make sure that you are feeling ready, then get in line to audition. If the line is long, remember that you can play a few notes before you start your audition when you get in the room. The auditions are not blind, so dress up a little bit. Wear something comfortable, but wear something that looks nice. You don’t have to be in a tuxedo or evening gown, but dress to impress. First impressions are important.

Dr. Carr will be on site in the tabulation room if you have any issues.

Upcoming Dates

Be sure to subscribe to the calendar • www.chstrojanband.com/calendar • Some calendar events stopped syncing after we transferred to CutTime. Be sure to subscribe to this Google Calendar — the CutTime calendar automatically syncs to this one. All you have to do is click the “Add to Google Calendar” at the bottom after visiting http://www.chstrojanband.com/calendar to subscribe. The photo below shows you where to find it.

December

Winter Guard (WG) Rehearses Monday 3:30PM – 6:30PM, Tuesday 3:30PM – 6:30PM, Thursday 4:00PM – 8:00PM until April

• 12 • WG Drill Rehearsal | 4:00PM – 8:00PM
• 13 • DHB Auditions at East Paulding HS | 3:00PM
  • WG Drill Rehearsal | 8:00AM – 8:00PM
• 15 • Winter Concert | 7:15PM (Immediately following the CUES concert, which starts at 6:00PM)
• 16 • Marching Band Rehearsal if needed to prepare for the Championship Game | 4:00PM – 6:00PM | SAC
• 17 • Championshipo Game • Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta | 7:30PM | TBD
• 18 • Finals 3rd and 4th
  • WG | 4:00PM – 8:00PM
• 19 • Finals 1st and 2nd | Early Release 12:30PM
  • WG | 1:00PM – 8:00PM
• 20 – Jan. 5 • Christmas Break | No School

January

• 3 • WG Drill Design Camp | 8:00AM – 8:00PM
• 5 • Teacher Professional Development Day
• 6 • Students return for 2nd Semester
• 15-17 • UGA JanFest | Accepted Students
• 19 • MLK Day | No School • Parade

February

• 5 – 7 • District Honor Band | Accepted Students
• 7 • WG Performance | Creekview High School | Buy Tickets Here
• 14 • WG Performance | Villa Rica High School | Buy Tickets Here
• 16 – 20 • Winter Break | No School
• 28 • WG Performance | Whitewater High School | Buy Tickets Here

March

• 3 • Pre-LGPE | MAC | CB – 7:30PM • SB – 8:00PM • 8:30PM
• 14 • WG Performance | Pope High School | Buy Tickets Here
• 17-18 • LGPE | Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble | TBA | Carroll County Schools PAC
• 20 – 24 • Universal Studios Band Trip
• 26 • WG Rehearsal and Performance | Friends and Family Show | Carrollton HS Gym | Purchase Tickets
• 28 – 29 • SAPA Championships Trip | McKeznie Arena, Chattanooga, TN

April

• 6 – 10 • Spring Break | No School
• 18 • Band Awards Night
• 30 • Band BBQ

May

• 5 • Spring Concert • 7:00PM | MAC
• 15 • Graduation • 7:00PM | Band Performs
• 19 • Early Release 12:30PM
• 20 • Early Release 12:30PM | Last Day School

Thinking Ahead

• 2026 – 2027 School Calendar
• July 3, 2026 | 4th of July Parade Practice • July 4, 2026 | 4th of July Parade
• Band Camp Dates | Week 1 • July 13 – 17 | 8:00AM – 5:00PM
  • Week 2 • July 20 – 24 | 8:00AM – 9:00PM | Trojan Night • July 24