Common Times" Weekly Newsletter 10/31-11/7

Upcoming Events

Greetings Wildcat Band Families,

Lots of celebrations from the last 7 days! Our Dance team did incredibly well the last two weekends at contests, several Wildcat XC athletes were pulled up to run in the conference meet, seven 8th grade members auditioned for all-region orchestra against 9th graders and did incredibly well!! We also had several students volunteer to give up their Saturday to help at the All-Region Orchestra Auditions at BHS. Parents and directors alike made many comments on how polite and helpful they were the entire time. I can't be more proud of all of our amazing students and how they consistently perform at the top of their class in academics, athletics and music! Way to go!!

This week all 8th grade band members will participate in the junior high band night with Bentonville High School Pride Marching Band! We will wear the official band night t-shirt we are receiving this week from the high school, nice pants/jeans and students are welcome to wear jackets and sweatshirts to stay warm. We are going to stay after school, bus over to BHS to eat pizza together, meet and greet with BHS Band Directors and student leadership before walking over to Tiger Stadium with the band. We will perform in the stands with the high school band until half time. During halftime, we are moving our students to VIP seating to watch the LAST performance of "Lady" during half time. Once half time ends, we will walk all junior high students back to the north building. Parents need to plan to pick up your student around 8:30pm between the North and South Buildings. A permission form with this information and a map was sent home on Friday on green cardstock.

November 9th is the Choose Love event for Bentonville Schools. We will be doing 2 pep rallies prior to the start of the school day. The first is for Apple Glen 7:30-8:00 and then for WJHS 8:10-8:30. 8th grade band and pep band students need to arrive at school by 6:30am to warm-up and suit up to go over to Apple Glen. We will wear our band shirt or a WJHS shirt. If cold that morning, students are welcome to wear layers to keep warm. Students should begin working with friends to carpool if necessary to ensure they are there on time. Students who have Geometry at BHS are excused from this performance.

After many requests we have reopened our apparel store for hoodies and the plain Wildcat T-shirt. If you are interested in purchasing one, the store closes TUESDAY at 11:59pm.

Please take a few moment to review the information below so you are fully prepared for the week ahead.

This week:

• Monday - A Day (Classes 1-4 and Advisory)

• 8:15-8:30 - Drop off instruments in band room

• 8:35a - Low Brass Class Concert Ab Major Scale Pass-off Due

• 3:45-4:30 - Clarinet Sectionals

• Tuesday - (B Day - Classes 5-8 and Priority)

• 8:15-8:30 - Drop off instruments in band room

• Priority Time - Trombone Sectional

• 3:45-4:30 - Euphonium Sectional

• Wednesday - A Day (Classes 1-4 and Priority)

• 8:15-8:30 - Drop off instruments in band room

• All Day - Candle Fundraiser Kick Off -ends Nov. 16th

• Priority Time - Flute Sectionals

• 3:45-4:30 - Saxophone and Tuba Sectionals

• Thursday (B Day - Classes 5-8 and Priority)

• 8:15-8:30 - Drop off instruments in band room

• 4:00pm - Band Room Closes

• Good luck Football!!!

• Friday (A Day - Classes 1-4 and Engagement Friday - )

• 8:15-8:30 - Drop off instruments in band room

• 3:45p-8:30pm Junior High Band Night for 8th Graders

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Below is the schedule for required sectionals for 8th grade band for the year that continues THIS WEEK. 7th graders are welcome to attend sectionals first semester if they want to be challenged to learn the all-region honor band audition music. Auditions occur in December and are required for all 8th Grade Band Students and 7th Grade Percussion.

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You can find a complete copy of this year's calendar of events here.

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PRIVATE LESSONS ARE AWESOME! They are designed to be fun, engaging, supportive and focused on the individual student.

We have an awesome partnership with Arkansas Music Conservatory where your student can take a lesson or two on US to see what private lessons can do for your band student! We have set aside $1150 for lessons this year. We can also help pay for additional lessons and offset the cost of lessons for families who need financial assistance in this area.

Who should take private lessons:

• Advanced students who need to be pushed and challenged

• Students who need some 1-on-1 assistance to learn and master concepts covered in class

• Students who missed substantial class time due to illness

• Students who just began playing this year

• Students who want to get better

• EVERYONE

To sign up for a free lesson:

• Contact Mr. Jones so he can track who is taking the exploratory lessons

• Contact Arkansas Music Conservatory to setup a lesson 479-268-3307 (call) or 479-430-2226 (text)

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To stay in the know be sure to follow us on your social media platform of choice: Facebook or Instagram - @wjhswildcatband and/or at www.wjhswildcatband.com

If you have any questions or concerns, please never hesitate to reach out. We are partners in your student's growth and need to work together for them to be as successful as possible.

Have a band-tastic week everyone!

Musically Yours,