Brooks Bands, Week of 1/9 - 1/13

WELCOME BACK!
We hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable winter break!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Saturday, Feb. 25th: BRAVO Annual Pasta Night and Music Showcase, 4-9 p.m., GBMS Auditorium and Commons (specific performance times TBA). Cadet &

Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and select small ensembles

from Wind Ensemble. (Jazz Lab Band may perform as well, confirmation to come!)

*This event is the required performance event for 2nd trimester for all academic bands. Please contact Mr. Barnard in writing (email preferred) no later than two weeks before this event if there is an important family conflict.

Monday, Feb. 27th: BRAVO Preview, during the school day. 6th Grade Bands and Jazz Ensemble only perform for 5th graders from our four feeder elementary schools.

ST. LOUIS MUSIC TOUR (7TH/8TH Graders)
Information regarding the BRAVO scholarship has already gone out to students. Deadline for the BRAVO scholarship applications is January 23rd. Also please check out the OPRF Youth Township Financial Assistance program to see if your family qualifies for this program. Complete applications for the OPRF Township need to be turned into the BRAVO office as soon as possible. Funds for both financial assistance programs are very limited and it is important to have applications turned in on a timely manner.

Raffle Ticket Fundraiser:
We are still looking for donations for prizes to help our Raffle Ticket Fundraiser. If anyone would like to donate gift certificates or would like to help contribute to larger prizes can contact Mr. Barnard at jbarnard@op97.org no later than Wed., Jan 11th. The raffle ticket fundraiser will kick off on Tuesday, Jan 17th.

HOMEWORK:

Practice Record Journals

Week 5 & Weeks 6 & 7 Combined Due Monday, 1/9

Please make sure that the practice journal is also signed on the inside of the booklet as well as the front cover.

Week 5 Practice Journals along with the Winter Break Practice Journal (Weeks 6 & 7) combined, are due on Monday, January 9th. Practice requirements for for winter break will be a total of 150 minutes for both weeks 6 & 7. This will allow for student that may be out of town a portion of the winter break to complete their practice requirements. If any student is going to be out of town for the majority or whole winter break, please notate the days you are out of town on the practice record (outside cover) of your practice journal and students will be excused for this assignment. Parents will still need to sign the record to verify. As for the assignment & goals page, students will only need to fill out the Week 5 page for parents to sign. However, students still need to fill out the practice journal portion for each week of practicing (weeks 5, 6 & 7). The easiest way to do this is to make sure for each day they record their practice minutes on the outside cover they need to write down what they practice inside the journal. We will be going over this in class early this week to help students know what is expected.

Students need to have the Practice Record (outside cover) Practice Journal and Weekly Assignments and Goals filled out for full credit. Parents need to sign two signatures, one on the outside cover and one in the Weekly Assignments and Goals is required for credit.

Practice records that are not turned in on time do receive a 10 point penalty each day it is late and will not receive credit if it is not turned in within the week. Make sure that both the cover as well as the assignments and goals page are signed to receive credit.

MUSIC THEORY: NO MUSIC THEORY THIS WEEK!

2ND TRIMESTER PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENTS

2nd trimester portfolio assessments will be accomplished this week for all band students. 6th graders will have portfolio assessments this Wednesday, 1/18 in class and all 7th/8th graders will have portfolio assessments throughout the week during their scheduled band sectional. A copy of the scoring guide on the portfolio assessments can be found towards the back of the Band Handbook.

2nd TRIMESTER OUTSIDE CONCERT SUMMARIES, Due Feb. 27th
Students in any academic music elective are required to attend one live performance of a music, dance or theatrical event each trimester and fill out the Concert Observation Form based on what they saw at the event. A copy of the program or ticket stub from the event will need to be attached and the form requires a parent signature for credit.

Students can attend any event that is school related or out in the community (i.e. OPRF Concerts, community concerts and recitals, events in downtown Chicago such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Broadway in Chicago productions, etc.). Copies of this form can be downloaded from the link provided in the upper right hand corner of the band blog.

Concert Summaries are 5% of the total band grade so please do not forget to accomplish this assignment.

JAZZ PROGRAM

Jazz Ensemble (7th/8th Graders):

Tuesday 8:00 a.m. rehearsal

Thursday 8:00 a.m. rehearsal

Jazz Lab Band:

Friday 8:00 a.m. rehearsal

All jazz students, 6th-8th grade, will need to have the Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble book which will be used all three years of their jazz experience at brooks.

If students or families have any questions or concerns please contact Mr. Barnard at jbarnard@op97.org.