Central High School Bands – 550 Warrior Way – Grand Junction, CO

Hello there! This handbook contains a ton of important information regarding our rapidly approaching 2019 marching season for the Central High School Marching Warriors! The CHS Marching Warriors are excited for another great year of performances, and we hope that you are planning on being a part of this energetic and passionate family of performers! Whether you are going to be a senior marching band member or a brand-new student at Central High School, we know you will find a home as a member of the Central High School Marching Warriors.

Students and parents, this is your handbook for the 2019 Marching Warriors. I know that especially for the incoming freshmen, there will be many questions about marching band and music at Central High School. If there is any information you are seeking that is not answered in this packet, please let me know—I am here to help make your transition from middle school to Central High School as seamless and as comfortable as possible.

Please enjoy the rest of your spring semester, and I look forward to seeing many familiar faces soon, as well as meeting our new class of Central High School musicians! Again, if there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Thank you very much!

Hans SnellDirector of Bands | Central High School | Grand Junction, ColoradoHans.Snell@D51schools.org | (970)-254-6200 | Our Website: www.centralbands.org

Check us out on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/CentralHighSchoolBands

Our Ensemble We are one of the most prominent groups at Central High School. In

the fall, we perform at all home football games and are a staple in the annual Central High School homecoming week events—we are a featured performance group in the CHS homecoming events.

We also perform at many community events, including various middle school “rock-a-thon” events, , the Veterans Day Parade, and the GJ Parade of Lights.

We are also a highly competitive group. We compete in various competitions around the Grand Junction area as well as at the state level.

We are a consistent state qualifier and have finished as high as 8th in the state in recent years, and we are very excited for our momentum to continue for years to come!

Students in the fall marching band are also participants in the CHS concert bands, jazz bands, basketball pep band, and chamber ensembles.

Don’t miss your opportunity to be a part of this phenomenal musical ensemble!

Membership Wind Players—There is no audition to be a part wind player in the

CHS Marching Band. However, students will participate in an audition/clinic to place on the appropriate parts and get them a head start on their music. Students that have experience as a wind player may join our ensemble. There are recording/memorization assignments that wind players must complete throughout the season. Please email Hans Snell, CHS band director, with any questions: Hans.Snell@D51schools.org

Percussion—The percussion section at CHS includes the front ensemble/pit (mallet instruments, accessories, etc.) and the drumline (marching percussion). The CHS percussion instructor will work with every student to find the best fit for each individual musician. Due to a limited availability of instruments, there is an audition to be a member of the drumline. Please do not hesitate to contact the CHS percussion instructor Katie Stiles with any questions: Katie.Stiles@D51schools.org

Colorguard—The CHS colorguard provides the visual element for the CHS Marching Warriors by spinning equipment (flag, rifle, sabre) and through dance. Prior dance/colorguard/music experience is not required. There is no audition for the CHS colorguard, yet attendance at colorguard clinics/camps is required.Please email Francisco Castaneda, CHS colorguard instructor, with any questions: Francisco.Castaneda@D51schools.org

Reserving a spot in our ensemble: We begin arranging music and writing the drill for our program

months in advance. It is important for students to be committed when they sign up for our ensemble, and understand that their commitment influences every other student.

In order to reserve your membership in our ensemble: Families must turn in the 2019 student/parent contract by

June 4th. A deposit of $70 must be turned in to by June 4th.

The $70 fee is comprised of the $40 band camp fee (which covers all meals/snacks during the full-day band camp rehearsals), as well as the $15 class fee and $15 uniform cleaning fee for marching band.

All students must be enrolled in the 8th and 9th hour marching band class.

Students who do not turn in their contract/deposit/enroll in the class:

These students will not have a performance spot in our 2019 ensemble.

*Once the deposit is paid, there will not be a refund if you decide you do not want to be a member of the Marching Warriors.

Rehearsal CommitmentsMarching band does require a lot of time and effort from every student. Due to our ensemble goals, we have a few summer events and we rehearse every day during the school week and some weekends. The calendar for the CHS marching band is released well in advance so as to avoid as many conflicts possible. Please review our summer/school year calendar below.

Mandatory meeting for all students and parents/guardians interested in 2019 Marching WarriorsThursday May 2rd – 6:00PM-8:00PM, CHS Auditorium – Contracts will be handed out at this meetingPercussion, Brass, Woodwind, and Color Guard Audition Information

Wednesday May 16th – Percussion Clinic/Auditions – 3:30PM-5:30PM at GMMSo Contact CHS Percussion Instructor Katie Stiles if you have

questions: Katie.Stiles@D51Schools.org Wednesday May 16th – Brass and Woodwind/Auditions – 3:30PM-

5:30PM at CHS

o Contact CHS Band Director Hans Snell if you have questions: Hans.Snell@D51Schools.org

Fri May 3rd and Fri May 10th – Color Guard Clinic/Auditions – 4:00PM-7:00PM at CHSo Contact CHS Color Guard Instructor Francisco Castaneda if you

have questions about color guard: Francisco.Castaneda@D51Schools.org Summer Sectionals - (Section Leaders will schedule additional sectionals)

Mayo Fri May 31st – Marching Band Camp at GMMS – 8AM-12PM Only

Brass/Woodwindso Sat June 1st – Marching Band Camp at GMMS – 8AM-12PM All

Members June

o Tue June 18th– Wed June 19th – Percussion Camp at GMMS – 8AM -5PM

o Thurs June 27th – Brass and Woodwind Camp at GMMS – 1PM – 5PM

o Sat June 22nd – Tue June 25th – Blue Knights Band will be in town at Stocker Stadium (go watch)

Julyo Mon July 22th – Wed July 23rd – Percussion Camp at GMMS –

9AM-1PMo Thu July 25th – Fri July 26th – Sounds of Summer (Percussion

Only) at CMU – All Dayo Thu July 25th – Fri July 26th – Guard Camp at GMMS – 8AM-12PMo Fri July 26th – Brass and Woodwind Camp at GMMS (US Navy

Band) – 8AM-12PM*** The attendance policy for the May/June/July rehearsals before band

camp is simple: If you are in town, you are expected to attend. If you are out of town, we understand, and you need to let the staff know. You must

meet with your section leader and find out what you missed upon your return. ***

Band Camp – Don’t schedule vacations here! The annual CHS band camp is one of the most important events

that we hold every year. Attendance is required for all students.

We will start to learn our 2019 show with drill, and most importantly, the ensemble will start to develop from individual members to a tight-knit family.

The dates for the CHS marching band camp will be:

Monday July 29th – Friday August 2nd – All members at GMMS – 8AM-5PM

Monday August 5th – All members at GMMS – 8AM-5PM Tuesday August 6th – All members at GMMS – 6PM-9PM Wednesday August 7th – All members at GMMS – 6PM-9PM Thursday August 8th – All members at GMMS – 6PM-9PM Friday August 9th – All members at GMMS – 1PM-5PM

We will have a potluck dinner/performance at 5PM on Fri, Aug 9th, at GMMS.

Students are expected to attend each day of band camp for the entire day. Students are not to schedule work, vacations, babysitting, birthday parties, etc. during the band camp.

CHS Band Parents will provide snacks throughout camp and meals on some of the long rehearsal days.

School Year CalendarAttendance at these events is the biggest part of the students’ grade in the marching band class. Some of these events may be evenings/Saturdays, and are graded events.

Daily Rehearsals at CHS Every student must be registered for the 8th and 9th hour

marching band class. We rehearse as a full ensemble every day until 5:00PM. (except

Friday) White Days: We rehearse during the 8th hour class, and

continue until 5:00PM Red Days: We rehearse after school from 3:00 until 5:00PM. Fridays: No rehearsal after school

Sectionals - Each component of our ensemble will have sectionals one day a week after rehearsal. These sectionals are required and are for a grade. Mondays – color guard sectional at CHS from 5:30PM-6:30PM Wednesdays – woodwinds/brass sectional at CHS from 5:30PM-

6:30PM Thursday – percussion sectional at CHS from 5:15PM-6:45PM.

August Saturday August 17th – Palisade Peach Festival Parade Saturday August 24th – Rehearsal at CHS – 8AM-5PM – CBA Clinic at

CHSSeptember

Monday September 2nd – No Rehearsal Scheduled – Labor Day Weekend

Saturday September 7th – Rehearsal at Stoker Stadium 8AM – 12PM

Thursday September 12th - Football Game against GJHS – 7PM – Stocker Stadium (report at 5PM)

Saturday September 14th – Rehearsal at Stoker Stadium 8AM – 12PM Tuesday September 17th – District Marching Exhibition – Evening –

Stocker Stadium Friday September 20th - Football Game against PHS – 7PM – Stocker

Stadium (report at 5PM) Saturday September 21st – Rehearsal at Stoker Stadium 8AM-12PM Saturday September 28th – Colorado West Marching Festival (all day)

Rehearsal in the morning at CHS. Field show in afternoon at Stocker Stadium.

October Saturday October 5th – Rehearsal at CHS - 8AM-12PM Saturday October 12th – Football Game against Vista Ridge – 11AM –

Stocker Stadium (report at 9AM) Thursday October 17 th – CBA Western Slope Regional (all day –

Stocker Stadium) Friday October 18th - Football Game against Palmer– 7PM – Stocker

Stadium (report at 5PM) Saturday October 19th – Rehearsal at Stoker Stadium 8AM-12PM Saturday October 26th – Rehearsal at CHS 8AM-12AM Sunday Oct 27th – Tuesday Oct 29th – CBA State Championships (CO

Springs, tentatively) We will depart CHS on Thu morning 10/27. Preliminary

Competition is in the morning on Mon 10/28 and finals are in the evening the same day. We return to CHS once we have finished our performance on Mon 10/28. However, if weather is dangerous we will return Tuesday 10/29.

November/December Friday November 1st - Football Game against Pine Creek – 7PM –

Stocker Stadium (report at 5PM) Veteran’s Day Parade – Sat Nov ??? Tuesday November 5th – Marching Band Banquet at CHS – 6PMSaturday December 7th – Parade of Lights - Evening

Our regular rehearsal/performance season ends after the state event. After state, the majority of rehearsals occur during the 8th hour marching band class time, and the performances are limited.

Student Attendance/Excused versus Unexcused AbsencesIt is imperative that every member is at every rehearsal and performance event—our ensemble will never reach its’ full potential if we consistently have performers missing rehearsals and performances. All events are required for all students, and each event is a grade toward the final grade that each student earns in the marching band class.

Excused Absences:In order for an absence to be considered excused, a parent/guardian must contact Mr. Snell a minimum of a week in advanced (example: doctor’s appointment, wedding, etc.). We understand that emergencies may arise (death in the family, illness, etc.), but Mr. Snell still needs to hear from a parent/guardian in order to excuse these emergencies. If Mr. Snell does not hear from a parent/guardian, the absence will NOT be excused.

Unexcused Absences:Mr. Snell cannot excuse students for work, birthday parties, babysitting, vacations. Furthermore, events such as doctor appointments, weddings, etc. that is not cleared with Mr. Snell more than a week in advance will not be excused.

Finally, we cannot excuse students who do not attend marching band rehearsal due to bad grades. We firmly believe that students must be held accountable for their grades in all classes. However… pulling a student from marching band rehearsal due to a grade in another class is not an acceptable course of action. Every student in the ensemble suffers when students are not at rehearsal, so missing a rehearsal due to bad grades in other classes is not acceptable. We have a multitude of options available to assist band students in raising their grades.

Students lose grade points for each unexcused absence.

In order for our ensemble to be successful, we must hold every student to this high standard.

Please keep track of our Google calendar on www.centralbands.org. Any date changes/additions will be updated through that calendar.Parent Involvement/CHS Band Parents

By being a parent/guardian of a CHS band student, you are automatically a part of the CHS Band Parent Organization. Welcome!

One of the greatest things that you will experience as a parent/guardian of a CHS band member is the involvement that you will have with them and their CHS experience.

Unlike other activities, we require a great amount of parent/guardian involvement in order to be successful. This is a neat way to stay in touch with your child.

Examples of how you can be a part of our band program are: Assist with serving snacks/meals at band camp Help at performances (help with uniform checks, moving/loading

equipment) Pulling the CHS Marching Warriors equipment trailer.

Help with uniform check-out/check-in. Be a chaperone at one of our many events. Help with one of our fundraisers (listed below) Attend a CHS Marching Warriors performance and cheer really

loudly! Serve on the CHS Band Parent Board.

The CHS Band Parent Board This board exists to serve the CHS band program and parent

organization, and is an integral part of making what the CHS band students do every day possible.

The board members serve in a variety of capacities and are always available to answer any questions that any band parent/guardian may have.

Please contact the parent board if you have questions about getting involved in our organization, or would like to join the board. Board members are listed below:

bandboard@centralbands.org Senta Costello: costello.c@bresnan.net

Getting involved: At the end of this packet is the student/parent contract. Please fill out

the parent portion of this packet in order to let us know how you would like to assist/volunteer for our organization. There are many different ways in which a parent/guardian/family friend can help, so the best way to see if you can help is to just ask!

HOW CAN I FIND BAND INFO?! HOW DO I VOLUNTEER? HOW DO I CONNECT?We Send Emails! From: bandboard@centralbands.org

We have a Website! Centralbands.orgYou can sync with the “GMAIL” band calendar:

We use an online Volunteer Signup Page for many events!

Go to centralbands.org – Click on Volunteer – Scroll down to the particular thing you want to volunteer for:

You will be taken to VolunteerSignup Page – click on what you want to volunteer for: (click green arrow)

Fill in your info – and hit Green Button, an email will be sent to you to confirm:

On your Phone: Just click MENU >> Volunteer & Donate

(rest of the steps the same)

Band Parent: text the number 81010 and put in the message @hans19Marching Band: text the number 81010

Find us on Facebook:Central High School Bands

Need a personal connection?

Contact: Telicia Chaffinteliciamchaffin@gmail.com970.250.5409FB Messenger also

Fees Like any activity/sport in which your child participates, there are fees

that are necessary in order for what we do to happen. Our goal is to keep our fees as low as possible while still maintaining the ability to do what we do with quality. Please understand that no student will be turned away due to financial situations and that we have a variety of fundraising options available.

Below is a general list of fees for membership in the 2019 CHS Marching Warriors.

$40 Band Camp fee – This fee pays for our instructors for band camp as well as the lunch/snacks throughout the band camp.

$15 uniform cleaning fee – This fee pays for each student to wear a clean CHS Marching Warriors uniform, as well as a deposit for the color guard uniform.

$15 class fee – This is the standard fee for all CHS performing arts classes.

The three fees above are paid when you submit your $70 deposit.

$40 instrument rental fee – Any student who needs to rent an instrument for the marching season will pay a $40 fee which will help cover the upkeep of the instrument and any repairs. This is a very reasonable price.

Students will be notified if they need to rent a marching instrument (for example, we use marching baritones, not concert baritones, etc.)

Students who will also be using their marching instrument all year for concert band/jazz band will pay $75 for the year for the instrument.

$10 glove fee – all wind players are required to wear a clean pair of black gloves for all uniformed performances.

$40 shoe fee – We wear a specific type of shoes (Dinkles) for marching band, and these shoes are required for all uniformed performances. Please note that if you have already purchased shoes for previous years in the CHS marching band, students may wear these shoes again as long as they fit and are in good condition.

$25 Show Design Fee – This fee helps offset the cost of drill/music arranging/props for our annual marching band production.

$250 state trip fee – Every year we take a state trip to the annual CBA State Marching Band events. This fee will pay for the charter busses we take, the hotels we stay in, the food we eat, and any fun activities planned. This fee is due on or before

September 27, 2019. They cannot board the bus without this fee being paid. This is District Policy and cannot be modified.

Colorguard/Percussion students may have specific fees associated to their section—these will be dealt with by Miss Stiles and Mr. Castaneda.

Please note that we have a variety of fundraisers available to help defray the cost for students.

A note about fees: Please understand that we charge “per student” for our

ensemble. This means that we only charge fees related directly to what each student costs for the ensemble. However, we have many expenses that come directly from the band general fund. It is important to pay/fundraise for your individual fees, but our program still needs participation from families and students for our general fund in order for our program to function.

Fundraisers Corporate Sponsorships

We always take donations from local businesses. In return, we help advertise for these businesses and offer them a variety of “thank you gifts”. No donation is too small!

Information about corporate sponsorships is on the “Community Support” page of the band website.

City Market Rewards You need to re-register your value card every year!!!

Country Jam The CHS Marching Warriors have been hired to work various

positions at the annual Country Jam. This is a huge fundraiser for us and we are very excited to participate and raise money for our organization.

The dates for the Country Jam fundraiser are June 13th – 16th

Please contact Senta Costello (contact information above) to sign up to work.

March-A-Thon We are excited for our annual march-a-thon! The date for our

march-a-thon is still being confirmed, but this will be a great event. Students will gather donations from friends/family for marching 8

hours this day. All donations need to be collected before the march-a-thon. These donations will be split between going directly toward the

student fund and going toward the general funds for the program. Last year, we had a member who paid for their entire marching

band season fees through the march-a-thon!

We have a number of other fundraising opportunities that occur throughout the year. Please know that every member/family is encouraged to participate in fundraising.

Some of our fundraisers benefit the general band fund and other fundraisers go directly to the account of each individual student. Please understand that the general fundraisers still benefit each individual student by keeping their fees low for marching band as well as the concert bands and jazz bands.

The best way to get involved in fundraising is to simply ask questions—don’t worry – we will help get you involved!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this packet thoroughly. I know there is a lot of information in the packet, but my goal is to give you the resources to answer your questions about our program.

Furthermore, if there is any information that you still need that is not discussed in this packet, please contact me or any of the marching band staff. Thanks!Hans SnellDirector of Bands | Central High School | Grand Junction, ColoradoHans.Snell@D51schools.org | (970)-254-6200 | Our Website: www.centralbands.org Check us out on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/CentralHighSchoolBands