Tuesday, February 5, 2013 · Band Room, KPS
Welcome everyone!
Meeting was called to order by President Lynn Cooper.
21 Parents are in attendance.
The minutes were read by all. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Doreen Reed and a 2nd by Alexis McNeil.
Big Band Dance – Approximately $1700 before expenses. This is more than we have made in the past. About 2 years ago we reduced the student price to $5.00. This increased our attendance of students, but it also decreased our profits. This year our profits are above what they were 2 years ago with the higher ticket prices.
Honor Bands: Are in full swing, so if you are still able to go to one of the remaining concerts. You can see the calendar on the website.
Runza Night: We will have both stores this year since we were unable to host an evening last year. Monday February 11, is our confirmed night at both locations from 5:00 – 8:00. We bus the tables and advertise the band, we will receive a portion of the sales during that time. Elementary conferences are that evening, which may help turnout. We will need to sign up a couple of people for each shift at each location.
Uniform turn in: Uniforms should be turned in now whether they are clean or dirty. If they haven’t been turned in yet, you will need to get them turned in to avoid a fee from the school. There are a couple of honor bands that students will be wearing their uniform at the concert. If your student is in one of these honor bands, you can have the uniform cleaned, wear them to the concert and then turn the uniform in.
Band trip deposit: This will be about $100 per person wanting to make the trip, due in May. Your student will be bringing home information in the future about the trip as it becomes available. If your student has funds in their account, they are able to use it for their deposit, for future payments toward the trip or for spending money while on the trip. $50 per day is available to use for spending money from your student’s account if is available.
Fundraiser: Scrip Cards; We would like to take a vote this evening. Does anyone have any questions about the program or need more information? The fundraiser was voted in favor of, there was no opposition. Marlene will start the process of getting everything ready for this fundraiser. If it is ready to go before next months meeting, there will be an email blast sent out. Otherwise we will be giving more information at the next meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: Tammy Madsen gave the report for the last 2 months. The report will be filed.
Concessions: District tournament information should be coming out soon. So there could be some more dates available to work concessions for your students account.
Chair for Band Banquet: This is generally a Junior parent, Julie Hofer was last years chair, she is available if you have question/concerns. This doesn’t have to all be done by 1 parent, but can be divided amongst several parents. Mailing the invitations should be covered under a 501c(3) organization tax free. If we don’t have the confirmation yet, we can use the band boosters tax free status and pay them back.
Directors Comments
Colorguard auditions went well, there weren’t as many as in the past couple of years, so the group will be smaller. Results will be announced after school tomorrow.
Smart Music: A program we have recently purchased. We have the ability to do the playing tests on-line. The program will play the other parts of the music and show the student how they are playing. It will show the correct notes in green the incorrect note played as red and the percentage of accuracy. A student can also purchase this program for $36 per year. It is computer specific, so it would have to be on 1 computer, but you are able to have several different passwords. Several different accounts for the 1 program. For those interested in Jazz music there is a improvisation tool. You are able to slow the tempo down if you want to be able to learn the music. We are hoping to have the marching program on Smart music next year so the students can have all of the other parts playing while they are learning their music. This isn’t available on tablets yet, but they are working on an iPad app that should be out soon. This will make practicing fun for your students and is available in all of the practice rooms as well as you are able to purchase this for your home use. There is also the capability to save as an mp3 file so you can compile all of the playing tests to see how they have improved over the years, or to save a portfolio. The middle school method books are all available on Smart music.
NSBA Concert Band Festival: In Lincoln, just the wind ensemble will participate this year. It is put on by the same people that do the NSBA Marching Band Festival and is new to Kearney High. This will be held at Kimball Recital Hall stage, we don’t know when our performance time is yet. 2 -3 adjudicators will listen to the band perform and then 1will spend about 20 minutes with the band in a clinic and give them interaction with the clinician. Parents are able to watch the band perform, there is no cost to the students, there might be for the parents.
March 7th Band concert. We are going to be doing something a little different. The theme will be Americana, music that has ties to America. Music that made America great and America that made music great. We are going to be doing a special tribute to what happened at Sandy Hook. Some composers offered free music to bands that wanted to perform their music throughout this year and have their performance go toward some kind of community good. So we are going to do a collection to raise money to go toward the Kearney Area Community Foundation. There are some students working on a video that will go along with the music.
Band Trip: the performance date is set on May 24, 2014, which is Memorial Day weekend. So that could be the start of the trip the end of the trip or somewhere in between, that isn’t set yet for a 4 day total trip. We are hoping to keep the trip to under $600, right now it is looking like $560, but will greatly depend on fuel prices.
Scheduling will be starting soon. Please keep in mind that you are your students best advocate. Please be aware that not all the teachers are experienced at putting a 4 year plan together. Some may steer kids away from music and the arts. There will be advisement conferences in May so you will have input on the classes your student will be taking. This schedule is not set in stone so if you want changes to be made you will still be able to make them.
Big Band Dance: This is really becoming a pretty big classy event and we are needing to look into bigger venues. If anyone has any ideas of a place that has a hard dancing floor, please let us know. We don’t have a lot of money to put into renting a place, but if you know of someplace that might be willing to give us a deal again, please let us know.
SLC committee: Exploring secondary solutions for our school. What we are going to do with our high school situation. There are many rumors running around. There has been no decision made at this time, we are still in the developing ideas stage. Committees are meeting to try to decide what does the ideal high school look like? What should we put in in, what technology should be there, how do we want to teach, how does the community want to see a new high school if there is one, or as a remodel of the existing one and what does that look like? A group of community members are then tasked with taking this perfect idea of what the high school will look like and say does this fit where Kearney High School is now, or do we have to look at building somewhere else? Can we deal with what we have or do we have to build new? It is important that you advocate for a solution that will enhance your students learning experience. You know what they have been experiencing, you can explain this to your neighbors and friends. It is about more than your kids now, it is about what Kearney looks like to the rest of the state. The state the school is in now, does not reflect the quality of education your student is getting nor does it give the appearance that Kearney is a great place to raise children or own a business.
Volunteer Roles
Executive Board Members needed for next year: President Elect, Treasurer Elect, and Secretary. The President Elect will be a 3 year commitment, the Treasurer Elect and Secretary are both 2 year commitments. If you have any questions about these positions, or if you know someone that would be a great fit for these positions, please see Lynn.
Uniform committee, we would ideally like 1 parent from each grade to help make this process run smoothly. Tammy Duncan will be there this next year to guide the committee. We need to have someone in place for this fall. You do not need to have sewing experience, someone that pays attention to the details. This would be during band camp/football season/marching season. Class of 2014, Lauren Harbols; Class of 2016, Doreen Sheen and Sonja Lindsey have said they are interested. We are still looking for a Junior and Freshman representative.
Concessions Stand manager/Stadium Clean-up: This is a 1 year commitment and the opportunity to make money for your students account
Bearcat Marching Festival Chairperson: Tracie Falconer took on this task this year and did a wonderful job. Tracie has agreed to organize this again next year.
Band Banquet: A junior parent that would be interested in organizing this event.
UNK Concessions: This is for UNK football games and some of the games generally fall on the marching competitions dates. We may need to sign up for fewer games in the upcoming years, so Tim Higgins will be able to sign up other groups as needed.
Upcoming events
- March 12th Band Parent Meeting @ 7:30
- March 13th Deli International Fundraiser Begins
- March 15th Band Ambassador Scholarship is Due
- May Deposit is due for the Chicago Band trip
- April 9th Band Parent Meeting @ 7:30
- April 18th Solo and Small Group Recital @ KHS
- April 19th District Music Contest
- May 2nd Band Concert @ Yanney
- May 4th Band Banquet
- May 14th Band Parent Meeting @ 7:30
- May 15th Musicalia
A motion to adjourn was made by Ed Uden and a 2nd by Todd Oschner .
