​On Wednesday of this week the band will be walking to the South Whitley town hall to perform for a group of senior citizens that gather there for lunch and entertainment/activities. Lori Starkey (her husband Tony Starkey owns the Fox instrument company in South Whitley) invited us to perform for the group she manages. Attached is a rehearsal schedule and notes for this performance that was handed out at the end of rehearsal today. If you have any questions please feel free to email me (Mr. VanPatten) or feel free to stop by before/after rehearsal/during lunch. Thanks so much!

Next Monday begins band camp 2017! I am really excited about getting to work on this year's production "Time Machine". I wanted to make sure to get this information out to everyone so that we can hit the ground running first thing on Monday morning. If you have any questions feel free to leave comments or email me at [email protected].

Schedule
Band camp will run Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-4:00 PM from July 24th through August 4th. There will be a few special events and other considerations throughout the next couple of weeks.

Friday July 28th - Rehearsal will begin at 12:30. I have a mandatory new teacher orientation in the morning and will be unable to attend rehearsal during that time.

Tuesday August 1st - We will hold a "phone-a-thon" kickoff for our cookie dough fundraiser that will begin on this day. Plan to stay an extra hour or two after rehearsal (more details to follow).

Wednesday August 2nd - We will be performing for a group of senior citizens at the South Whitley town hall at some point during the day. Again, more information to follow.

Thursday August 3rd - Parent Preview at 5:00

Friday August 4th - Pierceton Days Parade. Look for a schedule for this parade during the first part of the second week of camp.

Items Needed
These are the items students will need each day at band camp:

• Binder (for drill and music)
• 50-75 clear plastic sheet protectors
• Length of rope or shoestrings (to carry binder on the field)
• Instrument/equipment/accessories
• Good quality shoes and socks (students will not be permitted to march in sandals or flip flops, or without socks)
• Change of clothes/extra socks in case of rain
• Sunscreen (mandatory)
• Water in a jug that can be taken out to the field
• Lunch will be served by parents each day

Daily Schedule
For the most part we will be following this schedule each day, unless one of the events above requires a change to this schedule:

8:00 - Stretching/Breathing
8:15 - Basics
9:30 - Learn drill (one "chunk" of the show each day)
11:00 - Lunch/Free time
12:00 - Sectionals (memorization of that day's "chunk" of music)
1:15 - Full ensemble music (band room)
2:00 - Full ensemble drill-to-music (outside)
3:45 - Run thru(s)/Announcements/Dismissal
*Parents who wish to see the show develop are encouraged to watch the run thru(s) each day at 3:45.

All students are requested to be picked up and out of the building by 4:30 each day.

At last night's booster meeting, Mr. VanPatten presented the Charms Music Office to parents and students. This program is a cloud-based database and communication suite. This program has two important component. One component is a database tool that allows the director (and other parent volunteers) to manage inventory items pertinent to the band program (music library, instruments, uniforms, etc.) Once information is entered, and students have been added to the program, items may easily be assigned to students, and the director/parent volunteers can track who has what and when it was assigned.

The other, more important component is the parent communication tool. Like many student management systems (Powerschool is what the school uses), Charms allows the director to communicate many different pieces of information with students and parents. We will be using this tool mostly to maintain accurate financial records for students and parents over long periods of time. This makes the process of determining how much a student owes for band fees very simple. Things like payments, credits, fundraising profits, and other billable items can easily be added by the director and then viewed by the students and parents.

As of now we are running on a 60 day free trial of Charms. This trial version gives us full access to the program for 60 days. All student financial data has been added to the program and (as best as we can determine right now) is current as of today. Parents are encouraged to follow the setup instructions handed out last night to check their child's statement, as well as to browse around all of the other features Charms has to offer. 

If you have any questions about how Charms works, or if you find that your financial statement is inaccurate, please email Mr. VanPatten ([email protected]). 

Just a reminder that we will be having a mandatory booster meeting at 6:30 in the band room. Hope to see you there!

This weekend the Whitko Marching Pride will be performing in the Three Rivers Parade. We will be rehearsing from 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM on Friday morning in preparation for this performance. If you know you will not be in attendance for either the parade or the rehearsal, please email Mr. VanPatten as soon as possible.

The file below is the schedule for the weekend, as well as important information for both students and parents. Please look over this information and email Mr. VanPatten with any questions.

On July 11th we will be holding a mandatory booster meeting for all 2017 Whitko Marching Pride students and parents. At this meeting you will have a chance to learn more information about the 2017 season. We will be discussing a lot of very important information, so it is very important that every student and parent be in attendance for this meeting. Please contact Mr. VanPatten if you are unable to be in attendance. If you are not going to be able to attend but would still like to contribute or volunteer for an event, you can feel free to contact any or all of our booster officers. You can find their contact information here.