Reminders and Approaching Deadlines

Greetings CHS Choir Family

I'm going to start making it a practice to post any important news items like this on our website in addition to sending them out via email using our Charms Office database. If, for any reason, your email stops working or your address changes you will always be able to consult our website to find out the latest news and reminders.

Progress Reports

Just a note about progress reports going out this week. All of our choir students are doing great. If there is any cause for concern this early in the year, you will receive a message from a choir director. That being said, however, some students are looking at a less than favorable class average at this moment for failing to turn-in the necessary school supplies or to communicate in a timely manner about why they can't meet that obligation. Do not fear! As the supplies or communication is received that grade will shoot way up. All matters for that first assignment are now over a week past due, so there will be a necessary deduction in credit for tardiness, but its effects will become negligible as other homework assignments are completed and returned on-time. As is always the case, please be proactive, timely, and friendly in communicating about any issues and we will be happy to work with you.

Return of Required Forms & Fee

A reminder that all required forms and the $25 activity/uniform fee are due Tuesday, September 17. If you have misplaced those forms, they can be downloaded and printed out from our website download section here. Please make sure to peruse the departmental handbook before signing the acknowledgment form. The current version of the handbook is also located in our downloads section here.

We also get several questions each year about our activity fee. What is it for? Who pays it? Why do we have it? Certainly, this may be new to many of our families coming from the middle schools or other programs. I put together a very brief and informative cartoon that should answer most questions about the fee. Please give it a watch here. [I believe it uses Adobe Flash, so it may not play on iOS devices.]

Region Choir Auditions

We have had 50 students sign-up for the High School All-Region Choir Auditions. This is a new record! These auditions take place at Permian HS in Odessa on Saturday, September 28. More information for those participating will be sent home at a later date, but please be aware of the following items if your student is participating:

1. They need to be practicing regularly (preferably daily) on the music for the audition. There are digital files as well as physical compact discs to aid the students in learning their parts on their own. If they are missing this crucial tool, please have them ask us for it. We've been talking about it in class for a while now, but we continue to be surprised when, on an almost daily basis, a student tells us that they never picked up a CD.
2. They need to be coming in for help outside of class time. We have been and will continue making ourselves available, both during lunch and after school, to students for individual and group help on the music on a daily basis. The sectional schedule will be posted on our website at the beginning of each week. This week's schedule is posted here.
3. There are some fees associated with this competition. First, the students are required to own their own copy of the music being auditioned. Many purchased a complete all-state packet at the camp before school started and others purchased just the 4 region-auditioned pieces over the last several weeks of school. The complete all-state set was $16 and the region-only set was $10. Second, since this is an individual competition not through the UIL, the district does not pay the entry fees associated with this contest. Each student is responsible for paying their own $10 entry fee to the choir department. At this point, every student on our list as of the entry deadline on Friday, September 13, has had their entry fee paid regardless of whether or not they have paid us yet. We will require that each student on that entry list pay or make arrangements to pay their entry fee before we will allow them to audition on Saturday, September 28. Because the deadline has now passed for us to make drops without incurring a fee, any student who does not follow through with the audition for any reason will still be required to reimburse the school for the entry fee.

Parent Help Needed

We are in imminent need of parent volunteers to help with several items. I will detail them below. Please ensure that you have completed the required VIPS application before volunteering (the district's VIPS application information can be found here). If you can help us with any of these items, please send me an email as soon as possible.

1. In-Class Uniform Fittings: We need help in getting all of our choir students fitted in uniforms and we need to do it soon. So that we don't have to schedule a mandatory uniform fitting day, we ask for parent helpers to come up during classes and help fit students in uniforms, mark needed hems, and record the uniform numbers on a spreadsheet. If this is something you can help us do, please contact us ASAP.
2. Region Choir Audition Chaperones: The region requires us to bring at least 3 adult chaperones to the region choir auditions. Even if your student is not auditioning, you are welcome to come with us and help out. It is most appreciated and it is always a very educational experience seeing the process that our students go through at these competitions. This involves an all-day Saturday trip to Odessa. You are welcome (and encouraged) to ride the district charter bus with us and we will provide for your mails that day. The date is Saturday, September 28. Please contact me for further information and to volunteer.

Thanks

Thank you all for a great start of the year! We are excited about what the year holds in store for our students and choral program at CHS. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.