Below is the text of an email sent to all band students and parents on Tuesday, October 14. If you did not receive this email, please log into your www.charmsoffice.com account and update your contact information.
Dear HHS Students and Parents,
On behalf of the HHS Music Boosters, I want to thank those of you who were able to show up to the meeting on Monday night. All parents and students are invited and encouraged to attend our monthly booster meetings. They’re always on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7pm in the library. We can use all the help we can get! We try to do the boring stuff before you arrive and get all the good stuff out of the way at the beginning of the general meeting in an attempt to respect your time.
The main topics of the meeting were fundraising and the beginning stages of our 2016 spring performance tour. For those of you who could not attend, here are some highlights that you missed:
Mattress Fundraiser
One of our largest fundraisers of the year other than our benefit dinner is our mattress fundraiser. On Saturday, October 25 the HHS auditorium will be transformed into a mattress showroom where anyone can view and demo brand-new name brand mattresses of virtually any shape and size. Students and band families are only asked to help us advertise the fundraiser by passing out flyers (pick up in the band room or print off the band website), spreading the word about the fundraiser via word of mouth, email, social media (take a picture of the flyer and share it!), etc. Every student has made a commitment of finding 10 people to invite to our mattress fundraiser. Students should bring 10 names and phone numbers to school by Friday to add to our list of people we will personally invite. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, older siblings, co-workers, neighbors, ANYONE! In addition to raising money for the band program, your student can earn extra money specially set aside for them to use for band expenses (uniform costs, honor bands, travel, etc.).
We will also need students to sign up on the day of the fundraiser (Saturday, 10/25) to help at the event. Shifts will range from 9:30 to 5:30 that day, so check your calendar.
This is one of the easiest fundraisers you will ever come across. No selling necessary on your part…just get people to show up! Please click here to view the informational materials passed out at the meeting.
Painless, Virtual Fundraising
If you shop at Amazon, Safeway, or Fred Meyer, your purchases can benefit the HHS Music Boosters! Simply register your Rewards Cards or register directly at smile.amazon.com. It takes just a few minutes to register at each site, and from then on whenever you make a purchase at one of these merchants a portion of your purchase will be donated directly to us. It costs you nothing and does not take away from any other rewards points (such as gas rewards) that you may earn.
Smile.Amazon.com
- Go to http://www.smile.amazon.com and log into your account
- Under Your Account at the top right of the page, select Change Your Charity
- Type Hockinson High School Music Booster Club in the pick your own charitable organization search bar
- Select Hockinson High School Music Booster Club in Brush Prairie, WA
- Remember to go to Smile.Amazon.com from now on when you make an Amazon purchase.
Fred Meyer
- Go to http://www.fredmeyer.com
- Select Rewards on the top right
- Select Community Rewards on the left margin of the screen
- Select Link your rewards card
- Log into your account or register a new account
- Search Hockinson High School Music Booster Club and select our organization
- Then select Save
Safeway
- Go to http://www.escrip.com
- Select Sign Up
- Enter your zip code then Continue
- Fill out your information then Continue
- Enter Hockinson High School Music Booster Club in the search bar, Select, Continue.
- Register your cards, Continue
- Review your information
- There are many other ways eScrip will donate back to our program. If you are an online shopper, read the instructions on how your online purchases can benefit our program.
Possible Golf Tournament
ATTENTION GOLFERS! Mr. McEnry is looking for a few helpers to assist in possibly putting together a golf tournament to benefit the band. We’re looking at June or even early summer vacation. If you have experience organizing golf tournaments, or just think it sounds like fun, please contact Mr. McEnry. If there is enough interest in helping out we can get started with planning right away.
Annual Benefit Dinner
As many of you know, our annual Music Booster Benefit Dinner, Concert, and Auction is our primary fundraiser each year. This event has grown, both in popularity and in profitability, each year since the event started 6 years ago. We are at a point, however, where we may be outgrowing the event, both in terms of the number of people attending and the number of people organizing/planning the event. The Music Booster officers are without a Benefit Dinner Coordinator presently, and are currently looking at ways to maintain or enhance the event in terms of atmosphere, experience, profitability, and booster workload. Some changes to the event may be in store, but before we make any decisions we want to hear from you. Be on the lookout for a survey being emailed out in the near future. We would appreciate your input, and we would appreciate any help you might be able to give in working on this event. Even though the event happens in April, we usually have everything planned by the November or December booster meeting. Please consider attending our next meeting on Monday, November 10 to help us out.
Other Fundraising Ideas
One of my biggest goals as a band director is not to have to fund-raise often. I don’t want to sell candy, candles, wrapping paper, magazines, etc. and I don’t think any of you really want to buy or sell any of that either. That being said, it’s a fact of life that the amount of money needed to run a successful band program is nowhere close to the amount of money we receive. I would much rather focus our energy on fundraisers that either provide a service/product people would be buying anyway (such as a mattress…we all sleep on them) or a one-shot event that can raise a large amount of money in a short amount of time. If you have any ideas for efficient fundraising events, please feel free to share them with me/us. Please also be willing to help us make those ideas come to fruition in some way, as our small group of 6 or so parents are already spread thin working on maintaining what we’ve already built.
2016 Spring Performance Tour
Every other year, the Music Boosters and I offer all students the opportunity to travel as a band on a performance tour. In the past the band has
traveled to China for the 2008 Olympics, Disneyland twice (2010 and 2014), and Washington D.C. in 2012. While this school year is not a travel year, our goal is to have a trip planned a full year in advance so that families can begin budgeting and fundraising for the cost of these trips. These trips are completely optional and not tied to any grade in class. They are simply an opportunity to perform in various locations outside of our hometown, grow as musicians, and have a great time together. Last year nearly 80% of the band traveled with us!
At the meeting on Monday, I asked those in attendance for help setting parameters for the trip. After the discussion I reached the following conclusions:
- No more than $1500 per student for a 5 to 7 day trip
- Travel in late-May over Memorial Day weekend (will miss some school)
- Continue using our travel company, Educational Discovery Tours
- Explore destination options such as Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Orlando (Disneyworld), Chicago, Hawaii
- Stay within USA (no international travel)
If you have anything further you feel is important for these trips, please let me know soon. My goal is to put together a trip that is appealing and affordable for the widest group of students in the band. While 100% attendance is improbable, it’s something I want to shoot for. Your input on the trip parameters, as well as help in individual fundraising, can bring us ever closer to that goal.
Upcoming Band Events (always check http://www.hockinsonmusic.com/calendar for dates)
- October 17 – Home football game (last home game, but stay tuned for playoff performances)
- October 21 – Pep band performance at home volleyball game, 6pm call time (optional, but encouraged in the name of school spirit!)
- October 23 – Pep band performance at cross country meet at Hockinson Meadows, after school (optional, but encouraged in the name of school spirit!)
- October 24 – North County Honor Band application deadline (click here for the application)
- October 28 – Hockinson HS and Washougal HS combined jazz concert with Mic Gillette @WHS, 7pm (click here for more information). Jazz Band members also have a clinic/rehearsal with Mic Gillette from 2 until 4 at WHS.
- November 4 – Hockinson HS and Washougal HS combined Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band concert @ HHS, 7:30pm
- November 10 – Music Booster Meeting at 7pm in the library
- November 21 – Clark College Fall Jazz Concert, with special guests: The Hockinson High School Jazz Band! 7pm at Gaiser Hall
- December 6 – Skyview Jazz Festival (times TBA)
- December 16 – Winter Band Concert (all bands), 7:30pm
Those were our major highlights for the meeting. Should you have any questions or comments about any of this, please feel free to email me back.
Thanks for making it to the end of this email! Whew!
Corey McEnry
Director of Bands
Hockinson High School
16819 NE 159th St
Brush Prairie, WA 98606
360-448-6450 x5594
corey.mcenry@hocksd.org
www.hockinsonmusic.com