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Now entering the field… the 2008 Ambush of Tigers!!!
What IS Marching Band? What IS Color Guard?
The Marching Band is the major part of the Jerome High School “Ambush of Tigers” marching unit, and along with the color guard form a performance group that performs in parades and perfects a nine-minute “field show” that we perform at football games and in competitions throughout the western United States. We not only perform music but we create an entire visual and audio package – it’s much more than just a concert! We are part marching, part music, part theater, and all entertainment! After marching season ends in early November, the members continue on as part of the Pep Band (playing rock and similar tunes at basketball games and assemblies) and the Symphonic Band (playing concert music with guest artists and at concerts and festival).
While the band members create the music, the Color Guard creates much of the visual appeal of the performance, using spectacular flags and other props, even utilizing dance at times to portray the visual message of the music. After marching season ends in early November, the members can continue learning their art as part of the Winter Color Guard (or “Winter Guard”) on the gym floor, performing similar skills to recorded music at basketball games and other opportunities.
Tell me about the Ambush Of Tigers…
The Ambush is the most visible artistic organization in Jerome. Under the direction of Gordon Smith, the Ambush of Tigers Marching Unit has grown from the forty members who marched in2005 to over twice the size in 2008, and has placed in the top ten competitively in the state of Idaho each of the last two years. We are developing a reputation for unique and memorable shows, presenting our version of “James Bond” in ’06 and then breaking the conventions down with our “Jerome Centennial” show last year. This year’s “West Side Story” will be another stand-out show, updating the music and story of Leonard Bernstein’s award-winning Broadway musical and Oscar-winning movie to the 21st century. The Ambush has competed in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and this fall makes its first trip to northern California for a parade and field show contest in October. We are the primary ambassadors for JHS and the city of Jerome, as devoted to the education of our students and doing things “the right way” as we are to entertaining our audiences and earning competitive success.
Who runs the Ambush?
Besides Mr. Smith, who handles the show design as well as the overall direction of the Ambush, the other names you need to know are field conductors Brittney Thompson and Shelby Walters, color guard captains Jeff Hiatt and Schae Lohnes, and band captains Abbie Heuer (flutes), Brianna Ridgway (clarinets), Ben Bingham (saxes), Matt Grosshans (trumpets), Shelbi Raney (low brass), Cody Maltos (drum-line), and Callie Hall (pit). These are the students who will be helping you learn everything you need to learn to become an outstanding marching band member: music, flag and marching technique, performance excellence, and the specific maneuvers and choreography for our shows. Mrs. Stephanie Santos is the choreographer, and helps create the color guard package. A wide array of parents also assist throughout the year, and help in many different ways – and if you want to help as a parent, come to one of our Jerome Music Boosters meetings at the high school band room on the third Monday of each month starting at 7 p.m. Mr. Smith’s email is smithg@d261.k12.id.us and Mrs. Santos’ is hunnyzmail@hotmail.com – contact them with any questions you need answers to (especially if you can’t get the information from fellow Ambush members!).
ALSO, you should bookmark the Ambush of Tigers and Jerome Band website, http://bands@banddirector.com/jerome, and check it regularly for updates on schedules and activities throughout the summer and throughout the school year!
What are the costs involved in being part of the Ambush of Tigers marching band?
We charge a fifty dollar fee at registration that pays for your sweatshirt for performances (which will be yours to keep) and all of the costs involved (travel, competition entry fees, some equipment, and so forth). Beyond that, you may have a meal or two to buy on the road on one of our trips, but we really try to keep the costs to a minimum. We do have band members buy their own marching shoes, which you can use all four years, because they’re so person-specific – the uniform we check out to you without cost. You’ll need black socks as well. We have some shoes here sold back to the band from graduates, but probably new members will want to buy some “Drill Masters” this summer – they run $25: get me your size and payment in care of the Music Boosters when you can.
All members, band and guard, get the show hooded sweatshirt to keep, so if you haven’t given us your size for that yet, please do so right away. You and your family can order additional shirts at $24 each if you wish; again, please do so ASAP.
At the beginning of the season all guard members will be required to purchase the following “base pieces” of the costume that will be used year round and will be the same year to year. There will be additional pieces and accessories that will need to be purchased as the year goes on but we do keep them as cheap as possible to make this a more cost-effective activity.
BASE PIECES: Black Leotard, Black Palazzo Pants, Black Jazz Sneakers, Travel Uniform (Embroidery), Gloves, Practice Flag/Pole, Body Tights.
We CAN NOT order these items for the members unless they are paid for! The total cost for the base pieces is $200.00. This can be made in payments but please do remember we can’t place an order without the funds.
It’s our firm belief that finances should NEVER be something that should keep a student out of the activity – if you’ll participate in fund-raising activities, we’ll make sure you’re able to participate!
There will be a few car washes, possibly some potato sells, and hopefully some other fund-raisers the members will have a chance to participate in to help earn money for the additional costs. It’s our firm belief that finances should NEVER be something that should keep a student out of the activity – if you’ll participate in fund-raising activities, we’ll make sure you’re able to participate!
Commitment
Everyone joining the Ambush of Tigers needs to be very serious about being part of the performing group. You don’t need to be enrolled in the first period class, but you do need to be part of the zero-hour program. Each person occupies a specific spot in the show, and every “hole” in the show hurts the performance, so it’s vital to be at every performance. It is a commitment that needs to be kept. We have a lot of fun, but there is hard work involved. Sometimes you may get bored or discouraged, but that is okay. Please, if you have any doubts or are getting discouraged, talk to your captains or instructors. We will do everything in our power to keep things interesting and help you when you are feeling down, or are having troubles with routines, or just life in general. We will remember that you have grades to keep up and family commitments as well, as long as you remember that you’re a member of our “Ambush” family that depends on you, too.
Credit
If you’re enrolled in first period, you’ll get a credit for the class (just as you’d expect!). But if you’re in the Ambush (as a 9th – 12th grader), you’ll also get a credit for being in the zero-hour program, whether or not you also have the class first period! (So first-period members get two credits for band, even guard members!) We’ll do registration for the zero-hour credit during Field Show camp August 12-15, since we count those hours towards the seventy needed for the credit (and that way we can take Mondays off during the trimester). It’s free, too! Zero-hour meets Tuesday through Friday mornings before school during first trimester, starting August 19th.
Attendance is very important!
1. You must attend all practices and be prompt. Any missed practices must be pre-approved by the director, and it will be your own responsibility to make up anything you have missed with another member.
2. If your absences are excessive or prevent you from knowing the show, you will not be allowed to perform in the show until you do know the show well enough to hold your part together. While a ‘hole’ is very detrimental, so is a member who obviously doesn’t know their part… and that’s more harmful to the morale of the other members than the hole is.
3. Be prompt and ready to go by the time practices or performances are scheduled to start.
4. Remember, we are not your care-takers. You will be responsible for having all of your parts and pieces for each performance together and ready. This includes hair and basic makeup for color guard members. We will be scheduling a meeting for members and parents to all get together to go over specific hair, makeup, and presentation policies.
Attitude is even more important!
Above all, you are part of a group that believes a positive attitude is as important as talent and skill – if you don’t develop skills, it hurts your performance; if your attitude affects the rest of the team, it will hurt everyone’s performance. We just ask that you come to each practice and performance ready to do and give your best, try to leave the personal life at the door and just live in the “band” moment while you are here!
So, what’s our schedule for the summer of 2008?
· If you want to fund-raise your share of the registration fees or uniform costs, we have four car washes planned: June 14th, June 28th, and July 9th for you to put money into your own accounts, and August 9th to help provide money for the entire Ambush as a unit.
· Color guard members, we have a lot of opportunities for you to get experience in working with flags, and we’re going to ask you to help us do everything possible to make sure you know how to use the flags correctly and proficiently before we start teaching you the choreography in July: many of you participated in the Magic Valley Marching Band at the Western Days parade, for example. We’ll have a couple of training sessions in June and July where we can give you some one-on-one instruction – as we get to summer and visit with each of you about your schedules, we’ll set up those dates.
- We strongly encourage any members who have not previously attended Cavalcade USA’s color guard camp at Boise State to make plans to attend July 7-11. Besides top-notch instruction you’ll also get to attend the world-class drum & bugle corps contest there during the camp. Mr. Smith has applications! By the way, six of the top drum & bugle corps in the world will be at a contest at Boise State that week (July 9) and Ogden the next night (July 10) – Cavalcade attendees go to the BSU show for free, but tickets are available for either show through dci.org on line.
- By July 14, you should have received some sort of basics instruction that will get you going as we start to put the show together. Each day from July 14-18, we will be teaching the entire color guard the basic choreography of the field show for the season, and we’ll need you at the high school from 6:30 – 8 a.m. each day, with Monday lasting until 10 a.m. Mr. Smith and Mrs. Santos will be teaching new material at each session, and it’s important that every member attend.
- Drummers, we’ll have a three-day mini camp for you on July 15-17 from noon to 1 p.m. each day to solidify what we need to know before we meet with the entire band. It’s important to get everyone here for these three days!!!
- The other big fund-raiser we’ll do this summer is a rummage sale at Automated Dairy on South Lincoln on July 26th.
- Then we start rehearsals for everyone: The Ambush of Tigers Marching Camp will take place at Jerome HS from 7 a.m. to noon each day on July 22-25 and 28th, where we’ll learn marching as an entire Ambush unit. Thanks to the MVMB, we’ve already gotten a head start on marching technique for many of our newcomers, but at Marching Camp we’ll teach you literally everything you’ll need to know short of the actual field show drill (which will change with new members being added in August): all the music, choreography, maneuvers, etc. Make every effort to be at every rehearsal – yes, there are occasionally conflicts. Please do the best you can to be here. I’m hoping to do something special for you on Monday the 28th besides a “normal” practice day.
- Our first performance is the Jerome County Fair Parade on July 29th, from the HS to the fairgrounds. We’ll meet at 3:30 p.m. for a 5 p.m. parade, and you can either get picked up there or catch the bus back to the high school. (There won’t be a performance after the parade as we did last year.)
- The other major block of rehearsals make up Field Show Camp August 12-15, from 7 a.m. to noon each day, where we’ll learn the actual details of the show for a performance for family and friends on Friday the 15th (and head to Roaring Springs in Boise afterwards!). Obviously, it will be important to have all Ambush members here for this – we’re going to try to accomplish in four days what we did in five last year. This is also where we’ll register you for your free zero-hour Ambush credit!
- Then we begin our Tuesday-through-Friday zero hour rehearsals the following week (August 19-22, 6:30 to 8:30 this week only – during the school year zero-hour ends at 7:37), and then the school year starts. We’ll perform at all four home varsity football games on September 5th, 12th, October 10th and 24th, and we’ll be making four trips: Ketchum for the Wagon Days parade on August 30th, and competitions in Caldwell on October 4th and Pocatello on the 11th. Our final trip is our most extensive: we’ll be taking a three-plus-day trip to northern California on October 17-19 for the Del Oro Spectacular (we’ll perform at a parade and a football game as well as a field show contest) in Loomis. (We may make road trips for football games at Burley and/or Wendell as well – to be announced.) The season will end with the Indoor Marching Extravaganza in the auditorium on November 13th, which some of you are already creating pieces for – thank you!
What are you going to remember about high school after you graduate?
Math class? English? Or the trips, the friends, the excitement, and the Ambush of Tigers? You’ll learn more about operating as part of a business, a team, an organization as part of the Ambush than you will in any class… and you’ll have the benefits of some great travel experiences, creating some incredible art, making friendships that last a lifetime, and much more. We think of the Ambush as an extended family – and once a member, always a member. Nothing in high school is like being a part of the Ambush of Tigers marching unit: between the teamwork/self-discipline/responsibility skills you develop, the pursuit of excellence that will serve you in all your future endeavors, and the outright fun we have throughout the year, it’s worth every minute you’ll invest and then some! Whatever your time or money concerns, we’ll find a way to make it work for you – come visit with Mr. Smith and let’s get you involved for the 2008 season!
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