Band News and Notes:BAND NEWS 7/29/2023
Hello everyone! My name is Thomas Farless Jr., and I am the new Band Director and Drama Teacher at Mt. Washington Middle. I am a recent graduate at UofL will begin my first year of teaching here. I'm beyond excited to serve you and your students, and will be in contact by this page, the Facebook, email, the remind app, and through communications I give to your students. In the meantime, I happily invite you all to the band room anytime from 2pm-9pm on Tuesday, August 1st to make introductions and talk about your child(ren) in the program. That evening from about 6pm-8pm is our Open House Night for the school, but I will be there before and after to allow new and returning students to try instruments and find a good fit for in the program! I plan on having time available for more of the same on Friday, August 4th, time TBD. Parents, go ahead and text @thfarless to 81010 to sign up for text reminders, the easiest way to communicate! That's all for now, I can't wait to meet you all! BAND NEWS 8/9/2022 Well, it's been a minute since anyone has posted here, eh? I am not Brandon Etienne, I am Brandon Johnson, I took over here at MWMS last year. I plan on updating the website over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out. FIRST A COUPLE ANNOUNCEMENTS:
BAND NEWS 5/23/21 Good evening MWMS Band Family! Thank you everyone for making our Spring concert a success! I had so missed making live music with our students! As we return to a sense of normalcy in the Mt. Washington Band, I look forward to many more performances next year! INSTRUMENT RETURNS If you have rented an instrument from the MWMS Band, you and your family should make plans to turn in that instrument no later than next Tuesday, June 1st. You may drop the instruments off at the front office any day during the school day. If you need to drop your instrument off at another time outside of the school day, please contact Mr. Etienne directly. Please ensure that your case is cleaned and free of personal belongings (pencils, music sheets, reeds and cases) and your instrument is in proper working order. Instruments will be rented out to students again in August. 6th GRADE BAND SIGN UPS If you know any upcoming 5th Grade students who will be MWMS Generals next year, we would love for them to be in the band! It’s not too late to get signed up for next Fall! Follow the link to access and print the band sign up form. Turn it into the middle school office or your elementary school music teacher! https://docs.google.com/document/d/13bBmdByTROjdot1PbVnTYGmBDmIqgdQS1HZM0Dz7bVk/edit KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via my school email. BAND NEWS 5/16/21 Happy Sunday MWMS Band Family! It is CONCERT WEEK!!!! For a Band Director, this week is like Christmas! This week is particularly special given how long it has been since our band family met together to enjoy live music. I am so excited to share the hard work of your band members with you, and to give our students an opportunity to finally perform music for you! 6TH GRADE REHEARSAL I will hold a rehearsal for 6th grade band members on Wednesday afternoon from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM for those students, both Cloud and in person, able to attend. I apologize for the short notice. It is critical that our students get an extra rehearsal prior to our concert to make up for missed rehearsal time due to KPREP testing. Please drop your band member off at Door 12 in the back of the school for rehearsal. This rehearsal is not required, but highly recommended. SPRING CONCERT The MWMS Spring Concert will be an outdoor concert on MAY 20th in the back parking lot of MWMS. Limited seating will be available, but families are strongly encouraged to bring their own seating in case we run out. Sun glasses are also encouraged, as we will be performing as the sun just starts to set. Performance times are below: 6th Grade - 6:00 PM (call time for band members is 5:30) 7th/8th Grade - 7:00 PM (call time for band members is 6:30) Band members should wear dress clothes (button down collared shirts, polos, dresses, and skirts of appropriate length are all acceptable!) Dizzy Dip Ice Cream, a local food truck, will also be present, so please bring money and support their business. It is some tasty ice cream! KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me! Brandon Etienne Band Director Mt. Washington Middle School BAND NEWS 5/3/21 We have made it to the last month of this year of all years! I hope that, as we close out this school year, your family remains healthy and happy. Please read below for upcoming news and events surrounding the band program! FULL BAND OUTDOOR REHEARSALS The 7th and 8th Grade band will be having after school rehearsals from 3:30 to 5:00 in the MWMS outdoor classroom on the following dates: May 6 May 13 Cloud students are asked to participate in these as well if families feel comfortable bringing their band members in for these rehearsals. The front doors of the cafeteria (Door 3) will be open for Cloud students to enter the building there for these rehearsals. SPRING CONCERT We will hold an outdoor concert on MAY 20th in the back parking lot of MWMS. Limited seating will be available, but families are encouraged to bring their own seating in case we run out. Performance times are below: 6th Grade - 6:00 PM (call time for band members is 5:30) 7th/8th Grade - 7:00 PM (call time for band members is 6:30) KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. BAND NEWS 4/26/21 Good morning MWMS Band Family! Please read below for upcoming news and events surrounding the band program! FULL BAND OUTDOOR REHEARSALS The 7th and 8th Grade band will be having after school rehearsals from 3:30 to 5:00 in the MWMS outdoor classroom on the following dates: April 29 May 6 May 13 Cloud students are asked to participate in these as well if families feel comfortable bringing their band members in for these rehearsals. The front doors of the cafeteria (Door 3) will be open for Cloud students to enter the building there for these rehearsals. SPRING CONCERT We will hold an outdoor concert on MAY 20th in the back parking lot of MWMS. Limited seating will be available, but families are encouraged to bring their own seating in case we run out. Performance times are below: 6th Grade - 6:00 PM (call time for band members is 5:30) 7th/8th Grade - 7:00 PM (call time for band members is 6:30) DOMINO’S PIZZA CARD FUNDRAISER The MWMS Band is currently holding a Domino’s Pizza Slice the Price Discount card Fundraiser. All students are being asked to participate in this fundraiser with each family selling 10 digital discount cards if possible. With this fundraiser, fans of our band can purchase a discount card to get a FREE PIZZA with each purchase of a large pizza at regular price. Each card sells for $10.00. Follow this link for sharing opportunities via social media, email, and or text message and help support the MWMS Band! https://slicethepricecard.com/35583 KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. BCPS will begin in person learning four days a week beginning March 22nd. Students will attend school Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, while Wednesday will remain remote. SNOW DAY! BCPS will be operating on a traditional SNOW DAY on Tuesday, Feb. 16th. Stay warm everyone! NTI DAY! BCPS will be operating on remote learning on Monday, Feb. 15th. I will see you all via Google Meet! Band News 12/6/20 Happy Sunday everyone! We are down to two full weeks of learning left in 2020! I miss being with our kids in person so much that I dreamed about traveling to a band festival with our band last night! I hope you are all finishing the year strong and doing what you can to keep up a positive attitude! Please read below for reminders about these last few weeks of learning! BAND REMOTE LEARNING SCHEDULE A note that I have made a few changes to our class schedule for this week that shouldn’t interrupt 8th grade classes. Please see below for when to log on. This change applies to 7th and 8th Grade Perc, 7th and 8th Grade Low Brass, and 7th and 8th Grade Flutes. This is our class schedule via ZOOM: MONDAY 1:00 PM - 6th Grade Band 2:00 PM - 7/8 Grade Percussion TUESDAY 2:00 PM - 7/8 Grade Flutes / Oboe WEDNESDAY 1:00 PM – 6th Grade Band 2:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Clarinets and Saxes THURSDAY 2:00 PM – All Brass FRIDAY 2:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Band All Students SPIRIT WEAR Be on the lookout for news about an online store that you can access to purchase MWMS band gear! T shirts, sweats, backpacks, and quarter zips featuring a variety of artwork will be in the store once it opens.The gear will be delivered to MWMS and you can pick it up from the school once it arrives. I will let you all know when this store opens! MISSING WORK: Mid terms come out Monday, December 7th. I am not penalizing students for late work. If a student gets work in, I will grade it. If your band member submits missing work, please have them contact me to let me know what they have submitted and I will be sure to input the grade as soon as possible. Most notably, 6th Grade has two playing assignments and 7th/8th Grade has four playing assignments that are worth a substantial part of our grade. I want to be able to give students credit for them! SNAPRAISE FUNDRAISER Please spread the word concerning our Snapraise fundraiser, and consider donating through our Snapraise account. There are options for posting on your social media accounts and for sending news about the campaign via text. If you do not feel comfortable participating in the digital email campaign, please consider a simple donation to our program to help our students be outfitted with necessary equipment. Thank you so much! KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. Band News 11/28/20 Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you found this past week restful and got to enjoy some food and fellowship with your families. We have three weeks until our Winter Break, and although it is not how any of us envisioned it, let’s make the best of them! Please read below for important reminders regarding our band program! BAND REMOTE LEARNING SCHEDULE A reminder that this is our class schedule via ZOOM: MONDAY 1:00 PM - 6th Grade Band TUESDAY 1:00 PM - 7/8 Grade Flutes / Oboe 2:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Low Brass WEDNESDAY 1:00 PM – 6th Grade Band 2:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Clarinets and Saxes THURSDAY 1:00 PM – Percussion 2:00 PM – Trumpets and Horns FRIDAY 1:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Band All Students MISSING WORK: I am not penalizing students for late work. If a student gets work in, I will grade it. If your band member submits missing work, please have them contact me to let me know what they have submitted and I will be sure to input the grade as soon as possible. Most notably, there are three playing assignments that are worth a substantial part of our grade and I want to be able to give students credit for them! SNAPRAISE FUNDRAISER Please spread the word concerning our Snapraise fundraiser, and consider donating through our Snapraise account. If you do not feel comfortable participating in the digital email campaign, please consider a simple donation to our program to help our students be outfitted with necessary equipment. Thank you so much! KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish\ Our organization’s ID number is WU337. Band News 10/25/20 Hello MWMS Band Family! We will be resuming remote instruction for the coming week, and as much as I enjoyed seeing your band members in person this week, their safety and the safety of you and your extended families is of utmost importance to our school district. Thank you all so much for your flexibility in this unusual and challenging year. BAND REMOTE LEARNING SCHEDULE Since we are reverting to entirely online, we will resume our remote learning schedule via ZOOM: MONDAY 1:00 PM - 6th Grade Band TUESDAY 1:00 PM - 7/8 Grade Flutes 2:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Low Brass WEDNESDAY 1:00 PM – 6th Grade Band 2:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Clarinets and Saxes THURSDAY 1:00 PM – Percussion 2:00 PM – Trumpets and Horns FRIDAY 1:00 PM – 7/8 Grade Band All Students END OF GRADING PERIOD: Please help your band members get caught up on missing work. I have spent a portion of Sunday getting caught up on all grades and ensuring that any work that is still missing from band members is clearly marked in both Infinite Campus and Google Classroom. I am not penalizing students for late work. If a student gets work in, I will grade it. If your band member submits missing work, please have them contact me to let me know what they have submitted and I will be sure to input the grade prior to the end of the term, this Friday. Most notably, there are six playing assignments that are worth a substantial part of our grade and I want to be able to give students credit for them! SNAPRAISE FUNDRAISER A letter explaining our Snap Raise fundraiser was sent home both digitally and in person last week. Please encourage and help your band member to collect and input emails from friends, family, and community contacts who would be willing to financially support our band program. If you do not feel comfortable participating in the digital email campaign, please consider a simple donation to our program to help our students be outfitted with necessary equipment. Thank you so much! KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. Band News 10/18/20 Hello MWMS Band Family! I hope each of you had a restful and rejuvenating Fall Break! Many of our band members will return to in person instruction this week. Our 6th graders have had a fantastic week of in person learning prior to break, and now I am so excited to see our 7th and 8th graders back at it in person this week. Please read below for info concerning our return to in person instruction: BAND SAFETY MEASURES: Your children’s’ safety is our number one concern and we have taken several precautions to adhere to our state and district’s guidelines for safety.
MATERIALS FOR IN PERSON LEARNING Please help ensure students bring all needed items for in person classes on Tuesday:
CLOUD STUDENTS: Those students remaining in remote cloud instruction will be asked to tune into classes via ZOOM as they occur each day to participate along with those students in live instruction. Resources for each day will be posted in our Google Classroom and lesson plans. The Daily schedule moving forward is as follows: 6th Grade – 10:10 to 11:10 7th Grade – 12:55 to 1:55 8th Grade – 2:00 to 3:00 The link for the ZOOM sessions will be posted daily. WORK DUE: Please check with your band members to ensure they have completed all work for this grading period. Most notably, students have 5 playing recordings due via Flipgrid. These are by far the most important part of their grade, and each are worth 50 points. Some students have a bad habit of marking these assignments as DONE in Google Classroom without attaching or submitting any work. The assignment will be marked missing and returned until the proper work is submitted. SNAPRAISE FUNDRAISER In the coming days, our band will be starting up our annual snapraise campaign, an online donation based fundraising effort. Students will be asked to collect and submit 20 emails from friends, family, and community contacts who will be able to support our band program. For those students or families who do not want to submit emails, alternatives for support will be made available. Look for a letter explaining this in detail in the coming week! STAY IN TOUCH: Join our band’s groups and stay in contact with Mr. Etienne, receive updates, and view our band’s media and music education advocacy resources. Remind App:
KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If there is any way you can give continuous support to our program, this is it! If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. For questions or concerns, please do not ever hesitate to contact me! Thank you all for your help and patience in getting this year off of the ground! Save the Date: MWMS Band Instrument Pick Up - If you are renting an instrument from the Mt. Washington MS Band and have not already done so, please fill out an instrument rental form, which can be found online. Pick up times for these rented instruments will be: Wednesday, Sept. 9th, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Thursday, Sept. 10th, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Come to the back of the school to Door 12 for pick up. Online Rental Form: https://forms.gle/th4McWBhC3F1kHFa6 Band News - 2020/2021 Band Sign Ups Good Morning MWMS Band Family, Click the link HERE to read the 2020 / 2021 Band Handbook and fill out a digital sign up form for the coming school year! Sign up for our REMIND texts by texting @betien to 81010. Band News - BEHS Marching Band Sign ups: Good morning! Current 7th and 8th Grade Band Members interested in joining the Bullitt East High School Marching Band for their 2020 competitive season should follow the link below to the BEHS Band website for information and the band handbook. https://sites.google.com/bullitt.kyschools.us/bullitt-east-band/marching-band?authuser=0 After reading about the details of payment and expectations, you may declare your intent to march with the BEHS Marching Band by going to the Google Form at the link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYp4zH8-gfWGNw1OLTyWiwH8xjFodZiiT_ygGUq_ps_fMsNA/viewform Thank you! If you have questions, please contact either myself or Ms. Brengelman for information. Solo and Ensemble Results 2020: Congratulations to everyone who participated in the KMEA Solo and Ensemble Festival today! By preparing and participating, you helped make our band better and you make us proud! Every event from Mt. Washington Middle School earned either a Distinguished (I) or Proficient (II) Rating! Results are below: Siarra R. - Distinguished Flute Solo Molly F. - Distinguished Saxophone Solo James G. - Distinguished Saxophone Solo DJ R. - Proficient Saxophone Solo Kelsey W. - Distinguished Trumpet Solo Keatin R. - Distinguished Trumpet Solo Maddox S. - Proficient Horn Solo David S. - Distinguished Baritone Solo Sam K. - Distinguished Mallet Solo Jazzy C. - Distinguished Snare Solo Brayden V. - Proficient Snare Solo Matthew F. and Donovan W. - Distinguished Flute Duet Alexa A. and Kelsi B. - Distinguished Clarinet Duet Nate J. and Savannah S. - Distinguished Trombone Duet Kelly A, Ella M. and Lacy N. - Proficient Flute Trio Connor K., Luke M., and Jordan R. - Distinguished Sax Trio Molly F., Emily K., and Gayle R. - Distinguished Woodwind Trio Zoe H., Kaylen S., and Meghan W. - Distinguished Mixed Trio Luke F., Maya S., and Kayla V. - Proficient MixedTrio Jackson C., Aiden L., and Caleb W. - Distinguished Mixed Trio Again, congratulations everyone! Scoring sheets and judge feedback will be available this week in class. Band News and Notes 2/9/2020 I got the opportunity to attend our state music educators’ conference this past week on Thursday and Friday and spent time learning from some of the best teachers and hearing some of the best bands in our state. I cannot wait to get back into the classroom to share some of what I learned with our students. Several important upcoming dates are also below. Please read below to stay up to date! Thank you all! CHOCOLATE FUNDRAISER THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us sell chocolate! You all are fantastic! We started out with 200 boxes and are down to about 25 boxes left. If any family can chip in and sign to be responsible for one more box we can get the rest of these sold in short order! The money we raise from this fundraiser will be going towards travel for our band and upgraded percussion equipment. It is essential we get all money in. Money for all boxes currently checked out should be turned in ASAP. BAND SPIRIT WEAR The Band Boosters still have band wear in a variety of sizes still available. Just send in cash or check and outfit your band member or family member today! Short Sleeve T - Shirt $6 Long Sleeve T - Shirt $17 Black Performance Hoodie $25 Dark Grey Tonal Blend Embroidered ¼ Zip $30 Black Jogger Sweatpants $20 IMPORTANT DATES FOR SPRING: Feb 12th – Rehearsal 7th/8th Grade 3:30 – 5:00 Feb 19th – Rehearsal 7th/8th Grade 3:30 – 5:00 Feb. 26th – Rehearsal 7th/8th Grade 3:30 – 5:00 Feb. 28th – Rehearsal 7th/8th Grade 3:30 – 7:00 March 7th – KMEA Solo and Small Ensemble Festival March 11th – Rehearsal 7th/8th Grade 3:30 – 5:00 March 18th – 3:30 – 5:00 – 7th/8th Grade dress rehearsal for KMEA Assessment Performance March 19th – KMEA Large Ensemble Assessment Field Trip April 24th – KMEA 6th Grade Honor Band Field Trip @ Shelby County HS May 7th – Spring Band Concert May 8th – Mt. Washington Spring Festival Performance May 9th – 7th/8th Grade Music in the Parks Competition - Details and Payment Info coming soon! If you are able to help out with chaperoning dinner on the evening of Feb. 28th, contact the band! KMEA ASSESSMENT KMEA Large Ensemble Assessment is scheduled for Thursday, March 19th. Our itinerary is as follows: 8:00 AM – Depart MWMS 8:45 AM – Arrive at North Oldham HS 11:00 AM – Perform our Assessment Program. Rock socks. Be awesome. 12:00 PM – Depart NOHS 12:30 PM – Lunch at Mall St. Matthews Food Court 1:30 PM – Depart MSM 2:15 PM – Return to MWMS If you are able to chaperone this field trip, please reach out and I will add you to the list. KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS If you have a Kroger Plus Card, a portion of every purchase you make can give back to our band program! Simply follow the instructions at the link below to link your Kroger Plus Account with the MWMS Band. https://www.kroger.com/asset/sw_english_spanish Our organization’s ID number is WU337. |
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