From the Band Room - January 10, 2017

From the President

I'd like to start this week's FTBR off with two words: grateful and flexible. I'm grateful to work with such a great team of directors and a community of supportive and passionate parents - and naturally, I'm grateful to work with and be around your amazing children! In my own 20+ years of teaching, I've learned the importance of being flexible. We've all had to endure some challenges so far in 2017 (thank you Region Band), and I'm grateful to be flexible. Some things we actually can control, but many things we cannot. I hope we have the courage to change what we can, and the serenity to accept what we cannot. That being said, read on my friends! This one is FULL of important information!

Spring Lessons Academy Reminder

Lessons Academy registration MUST be returned to the directors WITH the $50 registration fee by Wednesday, January 11th, 2017 (tomorrow). The Spring session begins on January 11th!

http://cariobands.org/sites/default/files/linkedfiles/Lessons%20Academy%202016.pdf

Region Band Auditions,
Now On January 14Th, 2017

If your child signed up for Region Band auditions, then this is for you! Auditions are THIS SATURDAY, January 14th, 2017 at GREGG MIDDLE SCHOOL in Summerville - 500 Greenwave Blvd, Summerville, SC 29483. A 'Region Band Audition Checklist' is available on the Cario Bands website, and the checklist provides you everything you need to help your child be successful. The only piece of information not included on the form is your child's audition time. Those are posted in the band room, and your child should have that time burned into their brain by now. If not, please email the directors.

http://cariobands.org/sites/default/files/linked-files/RegionAuditionChecklist.pdf

Region Band Clinic Location Update

The Region 4 Clinic is usually hosted/held at Charleston Southern University, but unfortunately not for 2017. Lightsey Chapel Auditorium is currently receiving a brand new HVAC unit and is out of commission until March. Region Band this year will be at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC. We'll take a couple of charter buses with the Mount Pleasant middle school students that make Region Band and provide lunch for them on both Friday and Saturday. The buses will go up each morning and return each night. More details will come along as they are confirmed.

Flexibility study #1

Please know that all of us in the Cario Band program are disappointed with the postponement of Region Band auditions last Saturday. We are aware of the hardships this has caused, and we share the disappointment and heartbreak that many of our students are now unable to audition for Region Band and All-State Band because of the date change. I simply ask you all to please do not contact SCBDA to express your feelings. The SCBDA did not make the decision to postpone auditions without cause - the State Superintendent of Education declared there would be no school travel or functions on Saturday, January 7th due to the weather affecting much of the state. Once that decision was made, the SCBDA had no choice but to postpone. Believe me, they did not come to this decision lightly. This affected the entire state, and it certainly qualifies for a healthy dose of flexibility and serenity to accept what is out of our control. At the end of the day, safety truly does come first.

All-State Option Endings!

Featuring silky smooth segues in this edition, I'll roll directly into this quick update. We will find out about All-State call-backs via email on Monday 1/16. One of the directors will contact the students that earned an All-State call back. EVERY STUDENT AUDITIONING should prepare/perfect the optional All-State endings. They'll only have a few days to prepare that before All-State Auditions on 1/21/17!

Florida Trip Update (Aka Flexibility Study #2)

Families of 7th and 8th-grade musicians going on the Florida trip! The first payments were deposited on January 4th, 2017. We apologize for the delay - we were trying to be highly accurate with the total count. Thanks for your flexibility and your patience!

With that in mind, the next payment of $200.00 is due on January 20th, 2017. I realize this is short notice, and I ask again for your flexibility and patience. Also, the last day to cancel your Florida trip reservation is January 20th, 2017.

Paypal/Online Fee Payment Update

We are still trying to work out the kinks in our payment options. At first attempt, we couldn't set different payment amounts for a specific event. For example, if we set a Florida trip payment of $550.00, parents would not be able to pay a different amount (as in deposits and installments). We will have the Carowinds trip setup for online fee payment for the 6th grade band, but that's still to come.

Important Dates