Jerome High School

Welcome to the 2010 AMBUSH OF TIGERS season!

            We’re going to intentionally march a smaller group this fall because I’m going to be much stricter and quicker about removing students from the performing ensemble if they fail to follow through on their commitment to attending rehearsals and preparing the show material. There are a variety of reasons that combine to produce this change:

Ø The sheer size of the ensemble – for competitive purposes, I want to keep up out of the largest categories where we’re up against schools three times our size.

Ø It will be so much harder to catch latecomers up with the late start to the school year due to the furlough weeks – we don’t start school until September 8, five performances into the season and thirteen days before our first contest!

Ø Money is tight this year – and running an Ambush of seventy would be much less expensive than one with 110 members. (If we have 110 committed students, we’ll keep them all, of course.)

Ø The students who haven’t cared enough to put forth a real effort in the past have poisoned the enjoyment of those who did. Those committed kids can’t help but say to themselves, “Why should I work hard when those guys aren’t?” And I haven’t had a good enough answer for them.

Ø I’ve been too lax about the zero-hour credit for the out-of-school rehearsals, and there’s a concern that it might be taken away down the road. Our FC’s, AFC’s and captains will be responsible for keeping attendance tabs, and if you miss more than your allotted six hours of accredited time without school excused notification, you won’t be performing. (Remember, not ALL of the camp hours are required for the credit, however. You will need to attend the equivalent of SEVEN of the thirteen pre-school rehearsals for credit.)

Ø What about sports conflicts? I will continue to bend over backwards for your right to march and do another fall activity… but if you’re not willing to work at least as hard as I do to make it work, then we go back to the previous bullet point.

HERE’S OUR REHEARSAL & SHOW SCHEDULE FOR THE REST OF SUMMER:

·         Flags and percussion meet the week of July 19-23, at the MIDDLE school. Color guard members meet from 8-10 a.m., and percussion from 10-11 a.m. This will cover all the extra basics and material these two groups need to perform. All roles in these two groups will be solidified this week.

·         ALL Ambush members meet for Marching Camp at the MIDDLE school from 7:30 a.m. until noon for six days: July 26-30 and August 2. All fundamentals will be taught during this camp: parade, show and street music and choreography, all uniform issues, and drill basics for the field show. WE WILL BE BRINGING IN SOME EXPERTS TO WORK WITH YOU BESIDES MYSELF DURING MARCHING CAMP AS WELL.

·         The Jerome Co. Fair Parade falls on Tuesday, August 3^rd. All Ambush members will be expected to meet in the HIGH school parking lot no later than 3:30 p.m., and the 2010 Ambush shirts will be passed out during Marching Camp. Plan on wearing your marching shoes, black socks, and blue denim jeans/shorts for the parade. We ordered shoes after the Awards Concert, and will try to get some in time for those of you who have not yet ordered theirs.

·         Each member of the Ambush will need to have their $60 membership fee in by registration, which is now in late August (I think the dates are something like the 25^th or so). We are holding CAR WASHES every Saturday in the DL Evans parking lot on Lincoln to help you raise that money – be there from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and proceeds are divided up among the working participants for their accounts by the Music Boosters. The Boosters will also host a RUMMAGE SALE in the same location on Saturday, July 31^st over the same time frame – donations are already welcome (contact Mrs. Clark, at 358.5373, if you’ve got a contribution). Proceeds will be divided among workers. (Any money in your HS or MS band accounts carried over to this year.)

·         Then Field Show Camp will run seven days (but no additional short rehearsals before the first week of school) from 7:30 to noon on August 23-27 and 30-31. The entire field show will be completed during these seven rehearsals, as will all other performance material.

·         Our first field show (and Ambush Senior Night) falls on Friday, Sept. 3, followed by a trip to Ketchum on Saturday, September 4^th for the entertaining Wagon Days parade. [Varsity Band D rehearsals start Monday evening, Sept. 6, school starts for freshmen on the 7^th, and for everyone else on the 8^th.] Check the band webpage for the entire schedule, handbook, band blog, and all of the other information you’re going to want for the 2010 season: go through www.d261.k12.id.us and click “JHS Band” at the bottom, or go straight to http://bands.banddirector.com/jerome for the Ambush Of Tigers web site.

EXPECTATIONS:  Again, read the handbook on the website (and we’ll have print copies for you at marching camp, including your permission slip for travel), but here are the four biggies:

-          Attend every rehearsal. If you can’t, tell us why. Commitment works both ways: when you commit to the Ambush, we guarantee the Ambush will commit to you.

-          Work when you’re here. Don’t plan on spending time messing around, reading, or distracting the group from what we’re trying to accomplish. We have little time to waste!

-          Do your due diligence outside of rehearsals. You’re developing skills – that takes practice on a REGULAR basis. (Especially between August 4 and 22!)

-          Work to improve every time. Make every run-through, every performance better than the last one.

-          Bring the necessities to every gathering: sunscreen, water bottle, sneakers, pencil, drill or music, instrument/flag/sticks/etc…

You will be issued a performance uniform, which we expect you to take great care with. Additionally, you need to have purchased marching shoes & black socks (band members), or dance shoes plus other body equipment (guard members) before you can perform. The shoes we have to order specifically through the Ambush; the rest we can get locally.

Our fall schedule includes four (or more) home games, three competitions (Utah, Caldwell, and Pocatello), several other local parades and stand-still performances, Constitution Day for the district, and the return of the Indoor Marching Extravaganza in November.

Thanks for your faith in the education and entertainment the Ambush of Tigers provides. You will find this year to be more focused than the past, but as always the emphasis is not on competitive success but on being the best, most entertaining performing ensemble we can be while providing members with the best education they can receive. I hope to see you here on July 26^th when the full Ambush meets for the first time in the 2010 season!

---

From May 2010:Miscellaneous band and color guard things having vaguely to do with money

 

REGARDING EVERYTHING ON THIS LIST: Please send any money or orders with your child tomorrow or some other time before the end of the school year (or into June, for that matter). Tonight is for celebration, and to be honest something might get lost tonight! If in doubt for anything connected with the Ambush or the band program in general, checks can be made out to the Jerome Music Boosters. Thanks!

School instrument rental: Families with school band instruments may check them out for the coming school year this month by returning the instrument rental form (some are available tonight) with the $50 maintenance fee. Students will check their instruments in with Mr. Smith next week, with any damage repairs or necessary cleaning costs assessed back to the responsible family. Ambush members in particular will NEED to check their instruments out as soon as practical.

Ambush membership fee: As much as we want this activity to be free, it’s not possible to cover your Ambush of Tigers t-shirt, all of our bus costs, competition entry fees, and equipment costs without assessing our annual membership fee, $60 this season, due by registration in August. This can be fund-raised, paid to the Music Boosters by the Fair Parade August 3^rd, or paid at high school registration. We wish we could do without it, but with the increase in bussing costs especially it wasn’t feasible. Realize, please, that this is not connected to the rental of instruments or any uniform costs.

Color guard equipment necessary for each member: practice pole ($9), shoes ($27), gloves ($9), and tights ($16) adds up to $61. If you need all of these, newcomers, or just replacement pieces, veterans, we need to get sizes and order those in the spring.

Marching band shoes: Each musician in the Ambush of Tigers marching unit needs a pair of black Drillmaster marching shoes, which we can order for you through the Music Boosters. They should last for your marching career if you take care of them (and don’t outgrow them!). Specify men's or women's sizes, from women's 5 up to men's 17. Cost counting shipping is $27. Our next order will be placed on June 21^st, which is the date of our next Boosters meeting here at JHS.

Ambush marching uniform contract: Rental of either the band uniform and the color guard uniform will be free for the season BUT there will be a $15 fee if they are returned and still need to be cleaned OR found in a heap and uncared for during the season. There will be a damaged or lost fee of $200 for the band uniform and $120 for the guard uniform if they are not returned in re-usable condition (half that for either pants or top alone). Twenty thousand dollars went into these uniforms and we intend to make sure they get treated appropriately and that the Ambush will continue to look as sharp as they look tonight! (By the way, we’re waiting until marching camp to hem the pants – those thirteen year old boys will be growing four inches this summer…)

Middle school band shirts: $7 will once again purchase a middle school band shirt, usable for all three years of membership in the JMS Tiger Band. If students have clean, quality condition band shirts to return to use by younger members, we will credit five dollars to your band account in exchange for that shirt.